Digi Destiny Will Always Be There
by fieldofyellowdandelions
Summary: What could happen to the digidestined later in life?
1. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters (except Casey and Jake). Someone must own them. But I don't and so a really don't care. 

Notes: First of all, I did it! I finally did it! I've been writing fanfiction for about two years (Animorph, Star Trek, South Park, Pokemon, X-Files, Stargate and more, I'm sure) and finally I've work up the nerve to post something. Second, I'm terrible with grammer and spelling. I've look over this real hard and corrected all the mistakes I couls find. I even took down my dictionary, brushed of the dust, and used it. The story shouldn't be hard to read. Last of all, this is the very first part of a very large epic. I've got it all planned out and now all I have to do is write the parts. Enjoy reading and remember that congraulations and critism are always welcome. 

Digi-Destinty Will Always Be There 

Part 1 - Return Section 1 - At the end of the day... 

It was nearing the end of the work day. Koushirou Izumi, but usually known as Izzy, was shutting down the computers for the night. The door to the control room openned and a woman, bearing coffee, walked in. 

"Hey, Iz." she said, handing out a cup of Joe, "Almost done?" "Almost done, Case" Izzy replied, taking the cup. Casey sat down on the arm rest and wrapped her arm around Izzy's neck. In the months they had been together their relationship had become less professional and more intimate. Ironic, even funny, in a way, considering their seperate backgrounds. Casey had been born in a two room health clinic on a reserve in nothern Manitoba, Canada. Her father hadn't stayed around long enough to find out if his kid was a boy or girl. As for her mother, who had problems that Casey wouldn't even tell Izzy, she'd lasted until Casey was in second grade. Casey had just came home, after an espcially rough day at school, to find her mother in the bathroom, her brains spilled out across the shower. Her aunt had raised her after that but Casey hadn't really cared. She had only one thing on her mind, getting out. So she worked hard in school, harder than anyone else. She got scholarships and out of of what she considered her prison. She had never looked back. And now it seemed to be paying off. She had a good job and a guy she really loved. As for Izzy, he was working highschool courses when others were learning 3 to the power of 3, he was into complex trig when his pals were struggling to understand basic algebra. He could have found a well paying job and a nice place near home. Instead he choosed to move Toronto, Canada to work on a project, that might lose funding any day now, where the pay didn't cover half his skills. But Izzy wouldn't dare ask for anything else. No. Like Casey, he'd really found a place. Still, there were things he had to get use to, like the colder weather and not being called by his proper name. You see, people were always mispronouncing Izumi and forget about Koushirou. So, mostly he went by Izzy, that had been only a nickname before. 

"After we're done, I'd thought we'd go home," Casey leaned closer and whispered into Izzy's ear "We could order a pizza, light some candles," Casey began to nibbled tenderly at the tip of Izzy's ear. "Open a bottle of wine, turn off the lights." Izzy couldn't keep his hands off his girlfriend any longer. He moved his free hand between Casey's jacket and shirt and rubbed her back and waist. He didn't dare go any further because he knew once he started he'd never stop. The control room was private but not that private! 

"Stop it!" Casey hissed, although she was enjoying every minute of it. "We're suppose to be working." "I can't express my love by stroking my girlfriend?" "The word's caresse, Izzy." "I know." And he went for her neck, like a vampire. There was no stopping him now. All he could do was pray to whatever God would listen that no one would walk through the door. Nothing could stop Izzy now, not even himself. Well, maybe one thing. 

The computure system whirled to life and warning lights flashed on and off. Izzy jumped to his feet. Casey crashed to the floor but quickly got up, buttoning up the top, and only button, on her shirt. They could just imagine their explanation to the boss. "You see, sir, we're sorry we let the computers melt down but we were just about to f-". Their thoughts were broken by what they were seeing on the screen where the satatlite picture should have been. Stress should. It had gone blank then snowed over. Casey, all business now, sat at her station. Izzy was already typing into the computer, asking what the HELL was going on and getting no clear answer back. But the snow cleared and a face became visuable. Izzy paled horribly. 

"What is it, Iz?" Casey asked, rolling her chair over. Izzy tried to answer but he found that his throat had gone dry and his tounge had grown too large for his mouth. He knew this person, this face. The beady eyes. The pinched mouth. The long, white flowing hair. The wrinkled skin. 

"Genni," was all Izzy managed to say through his parched lips. 

Part 1 - Return Section 2 - Go Sora, Go!! 

"Sora! Sora! Sora!" the crowd chanted, started slowly and with more than a little hesitation, but growing quickly and steadly into a roar as the team's top scorer raced across the field. She was on a break away. No one, not even the devil himself, could catch her now. It was all in slow motion and Sora Takenouchi knew it was going to be perfect. The goalie was never going to get this one, no matter how high she could jump. She kicked and the crowd held it's breath. For the brief few seconds it took for the black and white ball to pass through the two goal post, no one breathed. And then they did. The ball passed over the goalie's head, she just brushed it with her fingertips. The ref called the goal. The crowd went wild. One side rose up in cheers, the other spat out curses. The field swarmed with Soar's teammates. They ran into her, screaming and hugging and laughing. They knocked her down and piled over her. Sora's feet got caught under her as she fell, twisting her ankle. But did she care? No way! She'd won! She'd won! She'd won the college championship! She smiled and laughed with the rest of them until someone, an old friend, helped her to her feet. She reconized the face quickly, even though it had been awhile. It was Taichi "Tai" Takaishi. And even though it was likely that he was here to congratulate her, Sora knew perfectly well that wasn't the case. 

"You were great." Tai said. "What is this about?" Sora replied in cut-the-crap additude. Tai didn't seem to be paying attention. "Guess those scholarships of yours payed off." And he smiled at her. She'd forgotten that smile. It had been so long. 

They'd been friends before the Digi World but the friendship had intensified while all the adventures were going on. They got close, too close for their ages and they regretted it bitterly later on in life. They had needed each other so badly in Digi World but once they left, for good, they didn't seem to need each other any more. More over, they seemed to have destroyed the friendship they had had before. They drifted apart. For awhile, they both played soccer, though the games were no longer co-ed. Then, in the last years of highschool, Tai changed the course of his life. He quit soccer all together and focused on the arts, mainly drawings and sketchs. The last Sora had heard of Tai was he'd gone to some fancy art school, paid by his parents. The last Tai had heard of Sora was she'd won several scholarships, for excellent soccer skills. But now they were together again and it wasn't an accident. 

"What's going on?" Sora repeated. Tai, again, didn't reply. Instead he made a move as if to kiss Sora. She moved back, as he knew she would, and he whispered, "Genni" into her ear. Sora's blood went cold and goosebumps ran up and down her arms. A light breeze nearly toppled her over. She raced to regain he balance only to put too much weight on her bad ankle. She let out a cry of pain, as Tai had to steady her. "Are you-" Tai managed to get out before one of Sora's teammates came running up. She looked with suspicion at Tai's hands still around Sora's waist but then dicided to ignore it. "You coming Sora?" she asked impatintly. "They're about to award the trophy." Sora scrambled for a plausable excuse. She had to get alone with Tai, to talk. "Actually, no." "What?!" "I've twisted my ankle, bad, I think. Tai was just about to take me to hospital." Again the teammates eyes glared Tai over, more critical. *He must be some guy,* she though, *to get Sora away from the biggest moment of her life.* But the teamate left without another word. Sora sighed. "Am I actually taking you to the hospital?" Sora tried to put some weight on to her foot and winced. "I think you should." They made a big show of Sora hobbling off and Tai supporting her, maybe a bit more than they had to. "So, explain." Sora ordered, when they were out of the main crowd. "Well, basically it's this," Tai explained. " A couple of hours ago I get a long distance phone call from Izzy, telling me Genni's just contacted him." "Oh, boy." Sora groaned. "I know. Anyways, Izzy says we've got to round everyone else up and get back to the Digi World." Sora refused to hobble another step. 'You've got to be kidding me." "'Fraid not." "But...but... we can't... I mean, I don't know where anyone is. Matt and TK moved away years ago. I don't even know if they are still in the country. Mimi graduated and is gone. Joe dissapeared around the same time. That leaves you, me, Kori and Izzy, who happens to be in the United States-" "Canada" "-right now. How are we suppose to get together? And if we do, how are we getting back to the Digi World?" They reached Tai's truck. He opened the door and boasted Sora up. "Get in and I'll explain." Tai started up the engine, "Our digi-vices. That's the key. You still have yours?" Sora nodded. "Good, Genni gave Izzy instructions. We can use the digi-vices as personal dimentional transporters. At least, that's what, I think, Izzy said. We don't need to be together as a group. We only have to contact everyone and tell them how to set up their vices. While Izzy is trying to figure out Genni's instructions, we can contact everyone." The drove about a mile in silence before Sora spoke up. "You know this is riduculas, right?" Tai didn't answer the question. He wasn't required to. "I mean, here we are. Grown up but about to go back to the world where all our childhood nightmares were spawned. And I have a twisted ankle." 

To Be Continued... 

There is my first part. Hopfully my next parts will be longer. I just had to put something down before I lost my nerve. 


	2. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters (except Casey and Jake). Someone must own them. But I really don't care who. 

Notes (For those of you who were kind enough to review): Well, aren't we just a bunch of nitpickers? So, I made a mistake. Or two. First of all, why did I put Izzy in Canada rather than the United States? Could it be that I'm Canadian?! Sorry, I didn't mean to be snide. It just sort of typed out. The mix up with Tai's name was an honest mistake. Thanks for pointing it out! But the spelling for Tai's little sister's name was no mistake. Kori is the Canadian spelling. No, not really, but it's my spelling and when I started adding Kari to my fics that's how I spelt her name. Anyways, I don't spell her name like that anymore, even if Kari is a very common way of spelling Carrie where I live and Carrie always makes me think of pigs blood and misunderstood teenagers with freaky powers. (I'm a Stephen King fan, can you tell?) 

On another note, thanks for all the support. It was your encouragment and threats thats helped me decide to continue on with this story. 

As always, please enjoy and reveiw. (Boy, that was original) 

Digi-Destinty Will Always Be There 

Part 1 - Return Section 3 - Paramedic 

Tai came to hospital with the intention of finding a doctor to check over Sora's leg and get out. He didn't want to deal with ER. So, why was he stumbling around there with Sora hopping beside him? And this wasn't even the waiting room ER. Oh no, this was the badly burned, deeply cut, not breathing, no pulse, ambulance brought, could die ER. In the past minute Tai had rammed into a stretcher with a burn victim, been tripped by a person on crutches and had his teeth pratically knocked out when a rushing nurse 'bumped' into him. And it wasn't even rush hour yet. 

Tai and Sora sided up against the wall as a young girl with a cracked skull was rolled past. The paramedics traded her off to the nurses and doctors. It was only because the two paramedics were standing only a few feet away that Sora and Tai heard what they did next. 

"We've got a few minutes before our next run. How about some coffee, Joey?" 

"I'll see what I can do. And don't call me Joey." 

Tai and Sora stopped cold. They had no idea who the first paramedic was but the second had sounded familair. Very familar. 

"Joey?" Tai mouthed. Sora looked just as suprised. 

"Don't be so serios!" Called out the first paramedic but 'Joey' had already turned away. Tai pushed through the masses to get to him. Sora leaned against the wall, the only support she had left. Tai caught up with 'Joey' at the coffee machine. He tapped on the other man's shoulder, asking "Joe?" 

The man turned and straightened, giving Tai a good look. Other than a few alternations, he'd grown taller and was wearing contacts in place of his glasses, it was the same old Joe. Apparently he recongized Tai as well. 

"Tai! What brings you here?" 

"Sora got hurt but-" 

"Is she okay?" 

"She's fine but that's not what I wanted to talk about-" 

"Then what?" 

Tai grumbled in his throat. "It's got to do with DW." 

Dw was something the DD (digi destined) had devised for when they spoke in very public places. If they said Digi World people would want to know what it was all about. But if you said a fancy inital, like DW, people would think they should know what you were talking about and wouldn't ask. (Once an adult had asked Tai, when he was younger. He'd quickly replied Dead Worms and ran off.) 

Like everyone else who had got the news so far, Joe paled but not as much as Tai had expected. 

"We have to go back." Tai rushed on before he could be inturrupted again. "Genni contacted Izzy." 

From across the room, Joe's partner yelled "Hurry up Joey. We've less than a minute." 

It was Joe's turn to grumble, as he weaved his way through people and machines and stretchs. Tai followed close behind, still talking. "I don't know why. I don't even know how, through Izzy is working on it and swears it can be done. Joe? Joe, are you listening?" Tai grabbed the paramedic and spun him around. Coffee sloshed over the rims of they cups. "Do you hear me?!" 

"I hear you damn well!" Joe snapped back, "But right now I have a job to do." 

"Joey!" 

"Coming!" 

Tai did some quick thinking and whipped out his sketch book. He scrawled down a seris of numbers with a ballpoint pen and ripped out the paper. "This," Tai told Joe, as he folded up the paper and stuck it in Joe's front pocket "Is my cell phone number. Call me as soon as you get off work." Joe gave a nod and went off with his coffee. Tai went back to Sora. 

"Was that Joe?" 

Tai nodded 

" I can't believe it. While other people are out flipping burgers and pouring soft drinks, Joe's out there saving lives. Who'd have thought. So, how'd it go?" 

"I gave him my cell number. Let's hope he calls." 

"Joe's very reliable. I'm sure he won't forget, especially with something so important." 

"That's not what I'm worried about. I mean, would you want to go back to the Digi World if you had a choice." Sora didn't answer but then she didn't have to. 

Section 4 - In the Night 

Izzy came into the control room, lugging with him box, its contents unknown to Casey. "Did you get through to ...um... what's his name? Tai!" 

"Around eleven." Izzy openned up the box and pulled out a bedroll, clothes, food and other camping gear. 

"Eleven!? That was..." A brief glance down at her watch, "Four hours ago. Where have you been? And what the H-E-Double hockey sticks is all that?!" 

"Everything I'll need where I'm going. I'm not leaving this room again until I figure out Genni's message." 

"Oh," 

Izzy sat down at his computer. Casey walked up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She could feel the tension pulsing through his muscles "You haven't told me exactly where you're going." 

"Probally because you'd never believe me." Izzy gave a harsh laugh and shrugged off Casey's embrace. 

"Try me." But this time Izzy didn't even answer. Casey sighed and sat down at her moniter, still trying to decode part Genni's, whoever he was, instructions. She knew, though experience, not to mess with Izzy when he was in one of his zoned out moods. He wouldn't be speaking until he was done his work, and only then when he was good and ready. But Izzy, like he usually did, ended up suprising her. After two minutes of key tapping, he went into a brief run down, Izzy style, of what he knew as the Digi World. 

"The Digi, that's short for digital, World is an alternate reality that is parallel along side our own. It runs along our lines of communtcation and power, where living beings, even humans, exist in digital form. Years ago, I, along with six other kids, were transported to the Digi World from our summer camp though a vortex. When we arrived we were befriended by good digimon, digital monsters, and learned that we were the digi destined, for told in a proficy, that we would banish evil from the Digi World." 

"And did you?" Casey asked, expecting an affirmative. *After all,* she reasoned, *He would never have returned if he hadn't completed what he was brought there to do.* (It never crossed her mind that Izzy's story may have been false.) But once again her beloved suprised her. He turned away from his computer screen and looked at Casey with raw eyes. No holding back. No masks. Casey saw it all. Happiness, sorrow, loneliness, anger, hate, grief and fear, mostly fear, all mixed together in a explosion of emotions and colors and something else Casey never quite was able to put her finger on. 

"I don't know." He said and then the shields were up once again. Izzy turned back to his work, leaving Casey to ponder the story she'd just heard. 

The silence was broken only a few minutes later by the ring of the phone. Casey, the closest, grabbed it out of habit, forgetting it was probally one of Izzy's friends, and was greeted by a garble of sounds that she couldn't comprehend into actual words, though one might have been Izzy's real name. One thing was for sure, it wasn't any language, English, French or Cree, that she knew. 

Casey handed over the phone to Izzy with a simple, "It's for you." 

Section 5 - The Shop 

They, Tai and Sora, never did find a doctor. Not even a nurse. After about an hour of wandering around, they said screw this and left. They had places to go, people to find, monsters to battle. 

"I'll let you pick up a few things at your place before we hit the road." 

"I'll get my address book. It'll have Mimi's and Matt's addresses. Joe's, too, if he doesn't call." 

"Good." 

"What about your stuff? And Kari?" 

Tai jarred his thumb towards the bed of the truck. "All my stuff is in back. And Kari's at summer camp. She'll have all her stuff there, I hope. I told my roommate I was going on a camping trip and no one will miss Kari for a week or so." 

"Unless we're all killed." Sora couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Tai pulled up to Sora's building. It took her exactly fourteen minutes and fourty-three point twenty-two seconds to go in, throw her clothes and address book into a duffle bag and run out again. When she got back outside, Tai was just putting away his cell phone. 

"It looks like Joe had a change of heart. He gave me his number and told me to call him as soon as we were ready to go. What's the plan?" 

Sora got into the truck. "Mimi and Matt are living in the same district, on opposite sides but in the same general direction. What camp did you say Kari was at?" Tai told her. 

Sora was taken back. "Why would she want to go to the camp where this whole mess started?" 

"You're forgetting," Tai said, as he pulled out into the street, "For Kari, it didn't begin at summer camp. For Kari, it began right at home." 

Sora digested that and had to admit that made sense. "Anyways," she went on, "I was thinking we'd drive up to Matt's, TK's been living with him since their parents died, and drop me off. I'll take the bus and find Mimi. You go pick up Kari. Whatcha you think?" Tai just gave a winning smile. 

They didn't get into town until late and by then it was to dark out to go search for Matt. They pulled off to a cheap motel, but only had enough money for one room. Sora took the right side of the bed. Tai took the left. And both vowed to stay on their own sides. The vow lasted about five minutes. By morning Sora was on the left, Tai was on the right and the blankets were a mess. They got a silent wink from the manager as they left the room. 

"This can't be it." Tai said in disbelief. He was looking at a shabby auto repair shop, across the street, with an even shabbier apartment over top. 

"Has to be," Sora said pulling her duffel bag from out of the truck's bed and slipping the strap over her shoulder. "This is the return address on my birthday cards." 

"Matt sends you birthday cards?" 

*Is that a twing of jealousy I hear?* She wanted to say but what came out of her mouth was this, "Actually, no. But TK does." 

They walked into the shop, deserted omit a single teenage boy plunking away at a guitar resting on his knee, mumbling out lyrics, which only he could hear. He was tall and lanky. His hair, golden blond, was falling into his eyes. 

"Matt?" Sora asked, before relizing that this boy was far too young. 

"Under here." came a replie that startled both Sora and Tai. Matt rolled out from under the vehical. He'd grown a lot and built up some muscle but he still had the hair, longer now and tied back in a pony tail. 

"Tai! Sora! Hey TK, look who's here." The boy looked up briefly and with not much enthusiasm, before turning away. 

*TK! No wonder he looks so farmilar, so much like Matt. That hair. Those eyes. The clothes.* Another sour plunk came from the guitar. Sora winced. *Even his musical talent.* 

"Sorry about that." Matt excepted Tai's out stretched arm, then lowered his voice a couple of degrees. "He just got dumped by his girlfriend." 

"Ouch," from Tai, who'd gotten dumped before, too many times to count in fact. Matt nodded in agreement. 

Sora glanced down at her watch. "Shoot, Tai. You've still got to pick up Kari. And I have to find Mimi. Izzy'll be calling any time now..." 

A frown crossed Matt's face. Just because he worked in a run down shop and lived in the above one room apartment with his little brother didn't mean he was dumb. If his parents were still alive, he'd have been finishing college right about now. When he heard three of eight digi destined meantion in the same sentence, not to meantion another four right there in the shop, well you didn't need to go to college to figure out trouble wasn't far behind. 

"What's wrong in the Digi World?" The last two words finally got TK's attention and he gazed back with his first look of intrest. The painful plunking stopped. 

"Tai, go pick up Kari. I'll explain." 

Tai kissed Sora and rushed out before he could see her reaction. Outside, she was scowling but inside her heart had melted to sap. To Be Continued... 

There, that should suffice for another week or so. Next time, we figure out where Kari and Mimi have ended up. 


	3. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 3

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Just using them in my stories. Don't sue me. 

Notes: I must remind everyone that though threats and flames are a great way to get me to post stories ASAP, I can't do anything about the speed I write. Please have a little patience. Luckily, now you can make do with a little less patience. Seeing as now I have internet at home and don't have to wait for a trip to the college to post stories. Yippie! 

Part 1 - Return 

Section 6 - Summer Camp 

Tai really couldn't believe he was coming back to this place. The smells. The sounds. The whole place brought back long forgotten memories, most of which he had hoped would have remained forgotten. So, why was he here? He could have easily just called Kari and told her to come home but some where deep inside of him, he knew he had to come back. Like he owed someone. Himself? 

The back of his hand brushed against the bark of an old tree. Tai stopped and looked up into the branches. 

*Yes, I think so.* He told himself, *This is the tree I was in when it started to snow.* His eyes moved to a cabin. *And that's where we were when the snow was falling, as scrunched up together.* His gaze drifted to the ground outside. *That's where we were standing when the digivices fell from the sky and into our hands.* But things had changed too. For one thing, a camp once designed for childern had been transformed into one for teenagers. Also- 

There was a sharp tap on Tai's shoulder that brought him out of his thoughts with a start. Tai spun around to face a pretty, young woman about his age, maybe younger. "Can I help you, sir?" 

"Actually, you can." Tai was a little disgruntled at being called sir, he wasn't that old yet, but didn't mention anything. He was too relieved to have been awaken from disturbing thoughts. "I'm looking for my little sister, Kari." 

"You'll have to go to the office for that." She pointed to the building clearly marked OFFICE. "Over there." 

"Thanks," And Tai gave the pretty girl one of his heartwarming smiles and jogged off. 

A bell jangled as he opened the door and a muffled "Coming" came from the back room. The office had also changed. Tai didn't remember there ever being a computer on the old oak desk. The pictures on the walls had been updated and there were more. Tai skimmed over them, seeing if he could find anybody he knew. And he did. In the big photo of the whole camp, that hadn't been taken not long after they had all arrived, he saw seven childern: Sora, Matt, TK, Mimi, Joe, Izzy and himself. The odd thing was, they were all together, touching shoulder to shoulder. Back then, they hadn't know each other or, at least, not very well. Wouldn't they have been with their friends? Yet there they were, center of the photo and their faces, no, their eyes, seemed to be looking, not at the photographer but at Tai. They seemed to be pleading with him to free them, even his own, especially his own. 

A toilet flushed in the back room and there was a brief sound of running water in the sink before the door openned. "Admiring the pictures, I see. Find anyone you know?" 

Tai turned. "Only if my sister's here somewhere." He lied. Somehow he didn't want to mention the picture of his friends. He could still feel them staring into his back. 

The man frowned, "Haven't I seen you before?" 

"I don't think so." Tai lied again, knowing damn well that this was the guy who had run the camp when Tai had been here. "My first time here." Lie a little. Lie a lot. 

"Oh," The man said, a little disappointed. "Well, what can I do for you?" 

"I came to pick up my little sister. Her full name's Kari Kamiya but try under Kari. It's sort of a family emergency." 

"I see," The man took out a book and began to flip through, mummbling. "Kari. Kari. Kari. Ah, here it is." He looked up. "But before I tell you where to find her, how about some ID?" Tai flipped out his driver's lisense. "She's suppose to be at her cabin, number 7, but you know teenagers." 

"Do I ever." Tai commented making a beeline for the door. The staring photo faces were becoming unbearable. "Good-Bye. And Thank-You." 

Outside, Tai took a deep breath and nearly choked on the scent. Cold sweat raced down his back. His breathing became ragged as he raced for cabin seven. The eyes never let up and followed him all the way. If anything, they intensified. He'd never realized how much fear this place had bestowed in him. 

Thankfully, Kari was where she was suppose to be. 

"Tai!" She exclaimed when she saw her brother, " Are you okay? What's wrong? Is it mom?" 

"No...just...grab...your...gear." Tai gasped, "I...'ll...explain...later." 

Somewhere down in the pit of her stomach, Kari knew that something terrible was happening, that this was no ordinary emergency, that she'd live longer if she refused. But she knew in her heart that this was important and that she had to trust Tai. 

She began to gather up her stuff as quickly as possible before Tai hyperventilated. This place was really doing a number on him but she couldn't for the love of her figure out why. 

Section 7 - Wedding Dresses 

In the minute it took between the knock and the door openning, Sora had enough time to decide the apartment building fit Mimi's persona perfectly. The apartment number and door knob were made out a cheap, shiny material. The door frame had been painted a light pink, almost white but dark enough to stand out. On one side of the door was a flower bed filled with different kinds of wild flowers. On the other side was a plaque with Mimi's name and a guy's named Jake. 

*But they weren't married.* Sora noted. 

The door openned and Sora got her first good look of Mimi in over five years. It would be a lie to say she hadn't changed. Starting with her skirt, navy blue, which ended mid way between her knee and waist. Her upper half was barely contained in a white halter top. Gone were the days of pink skirts that went down to the ankles and long sleeved blouses. She'd gotten a hair cut and dyed it an awful red. Now it didn't reach beyond the top of her neck. If she had wanted to get it any shorter it would have to be shaved. Make-up plastered up every slight imperfection on the face, which made it look even worse. And to finish the look off, she was wearing sandels with four inch heels. 

*Her feet must be killing her.* Sora thought but didn't say anything aloud. 

At the same time Sora was looking over her, Mimi was getting her first good look at Sora in over five years. The jeans and T-shirt were to be expected but was that a bra? This from the girl who vowed never to wear one? The blue helmet/hat, the one Sora had always worn when she was younger, was gone and that wasn't a bad thing. But that hair! Sora had let it grow out and it was now tied back in a braid. Mimi had sevral things to say to Sora about the hair but kept them to herself and simply said, "Sora? Is that you?" 

Sora replied, "Mimi! You look great!" (white lie) and they hugged, like there was nothing unsual about Sora showing up out of the blue. 

Mimi led Sora in (it was a nice place, big too) and sat her down on the couch (leather yuck), talking all the while about old times and how good it was too see her. (White lies. White lies. White lies all of them.) Sora's replies were just as mundane and fruitless. (More white lies.) Sora was half way through her her second cup of tea before she got to the real reason for her visit. 

"Mimi, Genni contacted Izzy. We have to go back to the Digi World." 

Of the eight Digi Destined, six had suffered the same paling mixed with a rush of sickness and fear. In Kari's rare case, she was a bit enthusiastic (life had been getting a little too boring) and in Mimi's extremely rare case, she laughed. 

She laughed and giggled and laughed. "Really, Sora. I can't believe you, of all people, still believing in that silly game we played at summer camp." 

Sora was stunned. Of all the reactions she'd been prepared for (crying, fainting, anger) neither laugher nor disbelief had been amoung them. Maybe Mimi was in shock. 

"Mimi, are you okay?" 

"Oh Sora, I'm great." Mimi whipped away a tear. "I've just been so worried. I really needed that laugh. Thank-you." 

"Mimi, I wasn't joking. We have to go back." 

Mimi's face grew tight. 'Sora, stop pretending. Even if the Digi World was real, I can't go. I'm getting married to Jake next month." 

"Married?!" 

"Yes!!" Mimi rushed over to the coffee table and picked up sevral wedding magazines. "I've already picked out my wedding dress." Mimi flipped to a doggie eared page and showed Sora. "See?" 

The shock in Sora had quickly rose to anger and she knocked the magazine out of Mimi's had with so much force the flying magazine created a dent in the opposite wall. 

"SNAP OUT OF IT MIMI!! REALITY CHECK!! YOU"RE LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD!! IF YOU DON'T COME BACK THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE A WEDDING NEXT MONTH!! YOU AND JAKE ARE LIKELY TO BE DEAD!!" 

"Did Genni tell Izzy to tell you to tell me that?" 

"No, but I figured Genni wouldn't have asked us to go back just for a reunion." With most of the anger gone, what remained was snide and sarcastic. "Now get you stuff together. We're going." 

"No, I'm not. I don't believe you." 

Sora's mouth made a perfect O. Now she was the one not believing things. Hadn't anything she said gotten through Mimi's thick skull? "What do you mean, you don't believe me?" 

"How can I believe in something I don't remember?" 

"You're telling me you can't remember you're one of the Digi Destined? That you've battled evil digimon like Devimon and Myotismon? You don't remember Genni or the crest of sincerity? What about Palamon or Togemon or Lilymon or whatever 'mon she is?" 

As soon as Sora said 'Palamon', she knew she had hit the right note. Mimi's face fell six stories. She dropped the remaining wedding magazines back on to the table and wandered over to the window. 

"Palamon. Oh, Palamon." Mimi gave a sad smile. "Why did you have to say what you did? Why did I?" 

"What do you mean??" 

"When we were staying good bye, Palamon said 'we'd met again, some place, some time. It didn't really matter, just as long as we saw each other again.' Then she began to cry and she wouldn't stop crying until I promised I'd never forget her and I'd come back." 

"Now do you believe me?" 

"I don't want to but I don't have a choice." Mimi continued to stare out thought the sparkling glass. Sora couldn't exactly see at what. The buildings? The people? Nothing at all? 

"I'll go but give me a few minutes to get some stu-" The telephone rang and Mimi had to break off to answer it. " Mimi Tachikawa... Oh, Tai... Yes, she's here... yes, she told me... I'm going back... That's good... Do you want to talk to Sora?" Mimi placed her hand over the mouth peice. "Izzy figured out how to get the digivices working." 

Sora reluctantly took the phone, even though what she really wanted to do was slam it back into its cradle and renounce any involvment in the affairs of the Digi World. 

Section 8 - The Digi Destined Have Returned 

Joe stuffed the last bandage into his back pack, along with the other first aid supplies, a change of clothes, water bottle, blanket and energy bars. He slung it over his back, pulled down his ball cap, slipped on his perscription sun glasses and took out his crest from under his shirt. He was ready or as ready as he'd ever be. In one hand he had his digivice and in the other the instructions that had been faxed to him. Giving a sigh, and taking on final look around his apartment, he began to folow the directions on the peice of paper. 

"TK, you can't bring that." Matt told his little brother as he walked into the kichen with his bedroll and guitar. TK promply dropped the bedroll. "TK." Matt moved forward and found they were practically eye to eye. Matt could remember a time when he had to crouch to get to TK's eye level. He'd forgotten how much he- they had grown, inside and out. They'd grown apart. "TK, you can't take the guitar." 

"Why not? What if we need some music?" 

"I have my harmonica." 

"That's not music. It sounds like a dying cat." But TK lay down his guitar on the table and snapped open the latches. 

"TK, what are you..?" 

TK pulled out sevral bottles of pills and pushed them into his pack. Then he looked at his older brother, not coldly like Matt usually got these days, but with something brief (What was it? Fear? Hope?) floating behind the iris. "We're not going to die over there, right? I mean, not that it matters..." Tk trailed off. 

Matt mustered up the bravest smile he could. "We're not going to die and it does matter." He promised, not knowing if he was lying. 

They were in Tai's truck, pulled off to the side of the road, not far from camp. Tai jumped out but Kari beat him to the back, tossing out their hiking packs. Tai had explained the whole situation on the short drive and Kari, unlike everyone else, was anxious to get back to the Digi World. It wasn't because she was unhappy in her own world. Maybe it was the call of adventure that containued to beat in her heart. She'd become the daredevil in the family. Some people were suprised she still had all the fingers, toes and eyes she'd been born with. Tai knew this all too well. 

"Kari," he said looking sternly into his little sister's shining eyes and smiling mouth. "No funny stuff. No stipid stunts." 

"I wouldn't dream of it." Kari lied. 

"Where could you have put them Mimi?" 

"I don't know." Mimi replied, close to tears, sorting throught the same shoe box for the eightteenth time. 

"Would Jake have taken them?" 

Mimi paused and look thoughtful "Now that you meantion it..." Mimi's voice trailed off as she rushed downstairs. Sora hobbled after her. By the time she got down, Mimi was crawling out from behind the couch, holding up her digivice and crest triumphly. "They were in Jake's safe. I asked him to put them there for safe keeping." 

"Whatever, Mimi. Let's just get going." 

Casey walked into the control room, with a worn blanket. 

"I'm glad you're back. I was afraid I'd have to go with out saying good-bye." Izzy took the blanket and fingered the initals C.M. embroidered into it. 

"My aunt made it for me, when I was little." Casey explained, "One of the few things I took with me from the rez. I hope you don't mind." 

"Not at all. It'll keep me company at night." Izzy brought the blanket up to his face. "Smells like you, too. Thanks." 

Casey blushed and smiled weakly. "I wish I was going with you for real." 

They hugged. 

"So do I." It wasn't that Izzy didn't want Casey to come. She could survive, probally better than he could. Her life had been a trip to Hell and back and she could still love and laugh. How Izzy wished the digivice could transport more than one person. 

Lips met lips. And Izzy knew if he didn't leave then, he'd never leave at all. His thumb pressed down on a button on his digivice. There was a flash of light and Casey was kissing air. 

Casey stood alone for a moment or so, a tear running down her cheek. 

"Come back soon." She whispered. Then, as if gaining a new state of mind, brushed away the tear and sat down to wait. 

There were eight bright flashes of purple light, one right after the other and when the glare cleared what remained were eight young men and women, decked out in travel clothes and carrying camping supplies. 

"I remember this place. It's Genni's lake." Mimi took a deep breath and began to cough. "Sort(cough, cough) of(cough, hack, hack)." 

Joe bent down and ran his hand through the lake water. His fingers came up covered in goo. 

Sora looked up at the sky that should have been pure blue and saw instead a thick, grey smog. "This place looks polluted." 

"Looks polluted?" Kari barked harshly "Take a better look. This place *is* polluted. Yuck!" 

"This can't be the Digi World." Izzy said, taking out his digivice, "I must have made a mistake somewhere." 

"No mistake." 

The digi destined spun around. "Genni!!" 

He'd grown older. His hair was longer. His skin was saggy. His back was bent. He need a cane. His eyes were squinted. But he was Genni. 

"Genni, what happened here?" 

Genni led the way to where the murky muck was parted revealing, not stairs but, an escelator going down. He got on and the others followed. "Time, Kari. Time." Genni finally answered. 

"Um, Genni, I asked to question. Izzy." 

"Oh, I'm sorry. My eyes and ears aren't what they use to be." And he offered a weak smile. 

Joe was getting a sick feeling in his stomach but not from what they were talking about. It was what they were *not* talking about. "Genni, I'd hate to change the subject but where are our friends? You know, Gomomon and the others." 

Genni lost his smile. "You must understand," He said as gently as he possibly could. "You have been gone a long time. You're grown up. It's been years in your own time frame. Centuries here. No one, not even me, lives forever. Flesh dies. Data decays." 

"Genni, what are you saying?" 

"You don't mean..." 

"They aren't, are they?" 

The escolator reached the bottom and they got off. Here, like the world above, was also polluted. The fish were gone and the grass had turned a shade of brown but no one noticed. They were all intensely focused on what Genni was saying. "In a sense, yes, unfortually. They are dead. They have been for quite some time. I am sorry." 

Notes: Thus ends Part 1 


	4. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 4

Disclaimer: Insert boring old yadda yadda stuff here 

Notes: Things are about to take off. As they say, the plot thickens and becomes as clear as mud. I'm even confused with some parts and I'm writting the silly thing. Oh, well. It's all turn out in the end. It usually does. 

If you wrote any reviews, thank you. I can't tell you how much I appriciate it. Keep reading and reviewing, please and don't be afraid to give critism. Sometimes that can be more valuable than praise. A mixture of both is nice. 

Anyways, to the story! 

Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 

Part 2 - Digi World 

Section 1 - Old Memories 

Genni had been smart enough to leave the digi destined alone with their grief. They were sitting on mats, in a circle, in the big room they mostly claimed for their own whenever they came to Genni's. It hadn't changed all that much but they had to close the curtains. They couldn't bare looking into the oil slick and see garbage, in place of fish, floating by. 

Genni had left some food, rice, fish and fruit, but nobody touched it. Instead they took turns talking about their old friends, mostly about how they met. 

"I was so scared of Bukamon when he showed up." 

"Koromon scared me too, at first." 

"I don't see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't scared." Mimi stated, indigentally. 

"You screamed." Matt accused. 

"At the bloody Kuwagamon." Mimi pointed out. 

They all listened intensely, especially Kari who, as the others usually forgot, hadn't been there at the beginning. 

TK hadn't said anything for the whole conversation and when he finally did, it chilled them all. "When I said good-bye to Patamon, I knew it was for keeps. I guess I just never realized I'd be back to notice he was really gone." 

*When did TK become such a pessimist?* Joe wondered, *That's suppose to be my department.* 

The door openned and in shuffled Genni. "I hate disturbing you but we really need to talk about why you are here." 

"Oh, Genni. Don't tell just yet. Let us guess. Could it be we're here to save the Digi World from another big, bad, evil digimon?" 

"No." 

"What?!?!" 

"No, your mission will be much more important. A lot has changed since you left, not all of it good. I'm sure you've seen the world up there." 

"Can't anyone look after their own world? We left the Digi World in perfect condition." Matt mummbled but not low enough to get past Genni. 

"This is out of the digimon's control. The Digi World is going through a digilution." 

"Like an evelution." 

"Exactly, Izzy." 

"It's Kari. I said that." 

"My apologies, young one. I'm old. I have been here a long time. So long... I'll have to choose..." His voice faded off. 

"Genni?" 

Genni jumped with a start, his old bones cracking. "My apologies again. What were we talking about?" 

"Digilution." 

"Ah, yes. Totally natural. Species of digimon have become extinct. New ones are being hatched every day. Small villages of Yokomon have become cities of Birdramon. They've formed technology, much that can easily rival your own. And some digimon have managed to digivolve way beyond what you know as the Final Form." 

"All very intriguing, Genni. But what does this have to do with us?" This time it was Izzy speaking. 

"Everything, Kari." No one corrected Genni and he went on. "With progress, there are draw backs. With power, there is corruption. The digimon have began to crave power and no longer in their own world. Now they want to invade yours." 

"So, we have to stop the evil digimon." Tai said. 

"No, no, no, Sora. You can't. Remember Myotismon?" Shivers raised the hairs on their arms. They remembered. "Well, times him by a hundred, a thousand, and that is what you will be facing. No, the only way to stop them all is to put up a barrier, between the two worlds, that will take digimillenniums to break down. By that time I hope these power crazy digimon will have come to their senses and realize they don't want to take over your world." Genni sat down, tired by his long speech. But the old man couldn't stop now. There was still much more for the digi destined to hear. "I'd like to tell you a legend. When the Digi World came into existence, around the time of your own Industrial Revolution was beginning, its creators put up a barrier between the two worlds, so neither would be directly effected by what the other was doing. For a long time that barrier worked, only occasionally being broken. Then seven children came through a vortex, which created a rift that could not be patched. More were created when Etemon was destroyed, even more with Myotismon. Not to meantion all the travelling the digi destined did between worlds. I think you know where this is leading. Now the barrier hardly exists at all. In a matter of digidays it will be torn down and the digimon will rush into your world. And not just in a located area. Oh no. They will be all over the world, at the same time. Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Japan, England, Antartica, New Zealand, Canada." 

"Is there a way to build up a the barrier again." 

"No, but..." Genni hurried on before everyone in the room fainted or killed him. "The Creators were smart. They knew their barrier would not be around forever and in case something happened, a second reserve barrier was stored away. All you have to do is turn it on." 

"Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be as easy as you make it sound." Matt grumbled. 

"Your feelings are quite correct Mimi." Genni took a scroll out from his robes and unrolled it on the floor. "This is part of an ancient scripture, which tells where to turn on the barrier." Genni pointed to a triangle on the map. "This is Mt. Edziza. It's not far. A day walking or so. You can see it from the lake shore. Can't miss it. This is where the device is. You'll have to get inside." 

"How?" 

"That'll be tricky. You'll have to find a secret entrance. There are many but none are shown on the map. I'm told some have already been found out. But no digimon who has gone in, ever came out. There are obsticals, you see. Bobby traps. Many lethal. The Creators only wanted special people to get in and out." 

"So, what happens next? Do you know?" 

"Sort of," Genni took out another roll of paper. This one looked like a building floor plan. "All the entrances will lead to this chamber." He tapped his finger down on the rectangle. "There will be a door which you will have to get through. I don't know how." Genni's finger traced into the red circle. "This is where the device will be. It's said to be guarded but again, I don't know by what. Once you get past the guards, you'll have to turn on the device. There will be slots to put you're tags and crests. It doesn't matter what order you put them in but only a digi destined can slip his or her own tag into the slot. Otherwise, it won't work." 

"Wait a minute, Genni. Wait." Izzy said, waving his hands back and forth. "This doesn't make sense. That would mean only the digi destined, mainly us, could turn on the device. How could your Creators know we'd even be alive?" 

A mysterious look came over Genni's whithered face. "The Creators knew more than anyone can possibly guess. They were the ones who wrote the prophecies, many of which involved you and your friends." 

Tai looked over to Matt. "'Angels will shoot arrows of hope and light at the loved ones of those they have been sent to protect.' Remember?" Matt nodded. He remembered. 

Genni went on, "Perhaps, in a few days, another one of their prophecies will come true. Well, anyways," Genni shock himself "That's all, except one thing." 

Everyone, omit Joe who had been expecting this, grumbled. 

"Don't grumble Joe. I only have to say you can only us the digivices twice for transport. Once to get here and once to go home. And one more thing." 

"You just said one more thing." protested TK. 

"Don't argue with me girl. I'm sending some of my most trusted digimon with you." 

"What!?" 

"No!" 

"We don't need..." 

"...strong by ourselves..." 

"Now, now, now." Genni hushed the digi destined. "I know you are strong, that you have power but you don't have your digimon friends. It is a dangerous world out there. You'll need protection and help. Now go, you don't have much time." 

Section 2 - Just Like Old Times 

It was deja vu all over again, sort of. I mean, now it wasn't exactly pleasant to walk in the Digi World and they were older. It had been a long time but within minutes they fell into there old walking routine. 

Tai, as usual, took the lead. Joe found himself falling in step beside him and speaking. "Do you think this is wise? I mean, going off like this. Trusting Genni." 

"Do we have a choice? And what's wrong with Genni? We've always trusted him before." 

"I know but back then he didn't seem so... seem so..." Joe grasped for the word. "Senile." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Forgetting our names. Fading off." 

"Not to meantion the digimon." Mimi put in, jogging up to join in the discussion. 

All three glanced over the digimon that Genni had sent to tag along. It didn't matter what standards you measured them against, they didn't look very impressive. 

There was Folxmon. She seemed to be the leader and was by far the most likely to be able to defend against bad digimon. She was a little shorter than Kari, when she stood on her hind legs. Her front paws had fingers but she could fall forward and run on all fours if she needed the speed. Her fur was dark silver, which went great with her sharp white claws and teeth. 

I don't know the real name of the second digimon. He was a small quadruped who resembled an elephant. He also wasn't too bright, often relying on Folxmon's councsel. Hence the nickname Dumbomon. 

Finally, there was Clothomon, the pathetic digimon. She was friendly enough but tiny and weak. She seemed something out of a fairy tale, a tiny pixie that could sit in the cup of your hand. Basically a human figure, wearing human like clothes but so tiny, with glimmering wings. 

Right now Clothomon was sitting on the bill of TK's backwards ball cap. Neither he nor Kari, who was walking beside TK, noticed the presents of the digimon. They were deeply involved in a conversation over a band none of the others had even heard of. 

Izzy, Sora and Matt straggled behind in single file. They were all quiet, lost in their own thoughts. 

Sora was in the way back, as far away as possible from Tai. Her mind was swarming. She and Tai had offically broken it off. *So what happened in that motel room? Could it be that time did heal all wounds?* Sora subconsciously rubbed her abdomen. *Or was it just wishful thinking?* 

Izzy's thoughts were on, of course, Casey. He'd explained to her the time differential and she'd promised to wait in the control room. What made it so bad was that he'd could waiting years and she'd only be waiting days. It was so unfair, like everything else connected to being a digi destined. 

Matt wasn't thinking deep thoughts but he was watching TK like a hawk, for any stumble, any sign of dizziness even though the doctor had said it could be years before the visiable signs appeared. Matt glanced down at his watch and his voice called out on the verge of panic. "TK, did you..?" 

TK raised his hand in the A-OK sign, not losing a beat while explaining to Kari why 'Losing Sleep' should have been sung as a solo. 

"What was that all about?" Sora asked, her natural mother concern taking her away from her own problems. (At least some things never change.) 

"Oh, nothing. TK just has some medicine he has to take." Matt said nonchalantly as possible. He really didn't want to drag anyone into private matters, especially ones that were more TK's than his. "He just caught a bad bug." 

Sora didn't like the way Matt dodged her eyes but she let it be. She seem to have touched on a sensitive matter, though she couldn't see how a bad cold or flu could require such secretive behavior. Unless... 

*Don't even go there!* Sora ordered herself but the thought just wouldn't go away. *What if..?* 

They didn't get more than a mile before they ran into trouble. Or rather trouble flew to them. Mimi was commenting on the smell drifting off of Dumbomon when, suddenly, she wasn't commenting anymore. In fact she wasn't BREATHING anymore. She made desprate swips at her purse but oxygen deprivation was making anything she did less than accurate. 

"Catch Her. She's falling." Joe called, suddenly taking charge before anyone else realized anything was even wrong. He leaped over to a suprised Tai, who'd caught Mimi, in two even bounds. He took the case Mimi had been fumbling with and removed what looked to be a needle. With precision and confidence the others had never seen in Joe before, he directed the needle into Mimi's upper arm. She let out a small breath, followed by many gasps. 

"Calm down, Mimi. Breath." Joe soothed, "Breath. In and out. In and out." The gasps slowed into normal breaths. 

"What happened?" Now that the immediate danger was over, Tai fell back into his role as leader. Mimi was too busy concentrating pushing air in and out of her lungs, so Joe picked up the container and used needle. 

"It seems Mimi forgot to meantion she'd allergic to bee strings," 

Of course, the day wasn't over yet. It wouldn't be over until the sun went down. And sometimes not even then. Joe insisted they take a break, for Mimi's sake. She really should have gone to a doctor but a brief nap under the leaves of a digitree would have to do. That's where Joe found Tai, watching over Mimi's sleeping form. 

"She'll be fine." Joe reassured, "And it wasn't your fault, so you can stop blaming yourself." 

Tai glared at Joe, upset that his private thoughts had been so easily unlocked. 

"Don't look so suprised. Birds of a feather flock together. You, Matt and Sora are all the same. You seem to think all the troubles in the world are your fault." 

"And you don't?" Tai snapped back. 

Joe laughed. He could definitely see the perks of annoying their leader. "Can't. I'm a paramedic. I see people die everyday. I can't blame their deaths on myself. I'd go crazy inside a week. All I can to is take comfort in the fact that I did my best." Joe looked at Mimi. "I swear, Mimi's not the first person to hide a medical condition. Like being allergic to bees is a big weakness. Makes it damn hard for us paramedics though." 

Sora walked into hearing range to catch the tail end of the conversation. Thinking about Mimi not telling about her allergy, made Sora think of TK and Matt. 

*Are they hiding another 'weakness'?* The emergency with Mimi had mearly dispenced not eradicated the thought and it was back. 

As her eyes drifted to the grove of trees where Kari, TK and Clothomon had disappeared. Of the whole group, they were the only ones who seemed to actually be getting along. Her ears picked up on yells and the sound of breaking branches. Kari and TK broke through the foliage at a full run. Clothomon was hanging wildly in Kari's hair, screaming the loudest. "Vipermon! Vipermon!" 

None of the digi destined knew what a Vipermon was but telling from the shear horror in the little flying digimon's eyes it couldn't be good. 

"Digivolve!" 

"We can't." 

"I was afraid of this. Genni gave us defeacted digimon." 

"Run!" Clothomon screamed. 

Sora looked to Tai. "Run?" 

"Run." Tai agreed. 

Tai and Sora each grabbed one of Mimi's arms and yanked her to her feet. More asleep than awake, she stumbled between the two. 

A creature slithered under the tree where Mimi had been sleeping moments before. They caught a glance of it as they hurried out of the clearing. It was a huge, legless serpent, covered in scales that were dark purple with a tint of black and silver. Its green tounge flicked in and out between the dagger fangs, testing the air for life. It had the hood of a cobra, tail of a rattler and was very fast. There was no way there were going to out run this thing. 

The digimon were behind, trying, unsuccessfully I might add, to slow Vipermon down. Folxmon front claws sliced at Vipermon but couldn't penetrate the thick scales. Dumbomon shot tiny pellets out of his trunk with much the same results. And as far as anyone could see, Clothomon's attack was taking a sharp stick and trying to poke out Vipermon's eyes. They were indeed doomed. 

Sora screamed as Vipermon's rattle end wrapped around her waist. Tai let go of Mimi who, still not awake, fell to the ground like a bag of cement. (Sora had let go when Vipermon had nabbed her.) Tai grabbed the nearest, movable object, which happened to be a rock, and blopped it down on Vipermon's snout. Vipermon, about to sink its fangs into its prey, turned on Tai but didn't release his hold on Sora. Tai decided to flee, fly, flash, foe, fum and get the flaming heck outta there. Apparently Vipermon had no taste for stationary food because he ignored Mimi completely and raced after Tai, Sora bouncing along behind. 

Tai made a sharp turn, as to miss the open meadow up ahead. He grabbed the lowest branches of the nearest climbing tree and pulled himself up. Vipermon came to a halt underneath and, looking up, spoke for the first time. "What kind of a digimon are you?" 

With a smile tugging at the cornors of his mouth, Tai replied. "A Humon." 

Vipermon seemed to smile back. "A Humon. Very interesting. I've never seen you before." 

"I'm new around here." 

Vipermon continued to look at Tai, never taking his eyes off him. "Come down here, Humon." And strangely enough, that's what Tai wanted to do, even though it surely meant certain death. He began to climb down. He heard someone (Sora?) yelling at him but it was drowned out by Vipermon's command. Tai climbed down all the way, until he was nose to snout with the serpent. 

"Foolish Humon." Vipermon hissed as his mouth openned wide. 

"Pepper Breath!" From somewhere on the left came a ball of flame and fire. The sudden bright light broke Tai's trace with Vipermon. 

From the right came another familiar attack, "Spiral Twister!" and Vipermon's head was knocked aside by a tornado of wind. 

And finally, came a sound that no digimon could create. BANG! The bullet whizzed past Tai's ears and bedded itself in Vipermon's eye. 

Blood began to gush and the digimon decided to retreat. He could handle these Humons, even Biyomons and Agumons but not this strange new attack, this BANG! 

The grip loosed around Sora and she was able to wriggle free. Tai grabbed her hand and they ran, as fast a their feet could carry them. 

Section 3 - Runaway(s) 

If you asked Tai, he'd firmly state that he did not enjoy yelling. However, watching him less than an hour after the Vipermon attack, one would beg to differ. He wasn't just screaming. He wasn't just yelling. And he wasn't just shouting. He was doing all three and letting hardly a breath in between. He was screaming at the digimon. 

(What kind of digimon are you?!!) 

He was yelling to the sky. 

(I could have used some help down here!) 

He was yelling at Matt. 

(What were you thinking? Shooting that gun? You could have hit me) 

But only Matt yelled back. 

(I probally saved your worthless life!) 

And Sora tried to calm everyone down. 

(Please calm down. You're acting like little children.) 

But, of course, they wouldn't listen. (Another thing that hadn't changed.) 

They yelled and then they began blaming. 

(You should have moved faster!) 

(You should have come back to help with Mimi!) 

(I had to watch TK!) 

(TK's a big boy now. I think he can look after himself!) 

Up to that point, TK hadn't felt effected by the fight. However when they drag his name into it, a kind of seething and resentment began to build up in his stomach, until he could stand no more. He turned and, dropping his bedroll and pack, ran as fast as possible. 

Stumps were stumps no matter which world you lived in. Good to stand on to mount a horse. Good for pinic tables. Good to sit down on and cry. That's how Kari found TK, bent over, head in his arms and bawling his eyes out. 

Kari's first response was to turn around and leave her friend to himself. But TK had keen hearing. He whipped his tears quickly away and beckoned Kari to come over and join him. If anyone here was going to understand, it was going to be Kari. 

She sat down beside him, (It was a big stump.) and waited. Eventually, TK spoke. "You ever feel like it's always your fault, no matter what you do?" 

Kari nodded. "Of course. A lot of times." 

Relief flooded though TK. He was not alone after all. That by its self almost made things all better. 

Kari tilted her head to one side and looked at TK with a quizzical expression. "What do you think is your fault?" 

TK forced a comical and embarrassed smile. "Everything." 

In response to what TK had said, Kari simply asked another question. "Like what? Specially." Kari had became everything her brother was not. She was a daredevil who had patience and could listen, along with keeping any secret, within reason. She also had a calming air about her, much like Sora, which just made you feel safe and want to talk. 

TK found the whole story spilling out of his lips. "I'm the reason my parents died. The only reason they were in the theatre was to watch a play I'd writtened. My parents both died in the fire when someone who wasn't suppose to be there, wasn't suppose to be smoking, and the cigerette that wasn't suppose to be lit caught the curtains on fire." TK made a laugh, which sounded more like a curse to Kari's ears, at his own wit. "When our parents died, they didn't have a will, or insurance or anything. They only relatives Matt and I have are distant cousins. Matt was going to go into college that year. But instead of having me go to a foster home, he used up his life saving on lawyer fees to keep us together. We're still in debt. Matt couldn't afford to go to college, even if he got a scholarship. He has to look after me. I wish I had just gone to that stupied foster home and at least Matt would be happy." 

"Is that all?" Kari didn't mean to sound unsensative but she'd heard a lot worse than this: Friends with suscidal thoughts. Friends with drug problems. Friends who were beaten by a boyfriends or parents. Oh yes, Kari had heard a lot worse. 

TK shock his head. "After that, things just sort of went downhill. I always thought that as long as me and Matt were together, things be fine but they weren't. I guess, after awhile, I figured things would be better if I was gone, so I ran away. I'd always come back or Matt or the cops would find me and it just made things worse. Once, I stayed on the streets for a whole month and I got involved in some pretty nasty stuff. You know... stuff." 

Kari nodded again. Though she didn't know exactly what this 'stuff' was, she had a pretty good idea. Drugs? Muggings? 

Kari took TK hand and squeezed it. It's what she did to comfort her freinds, to let them know she was there. Only this time she didn't let go. She looked into his eyes, beautiful. She felt herself leaning forward. Lips touched lips. Tounges touched... well, you know. TK kissed back and, for a moment, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Then fear and realization crossed his face in one strong blow. TK pulled away forcfully, like fighting gravity with rocket boosters, and held Kari at bay by her wrists. 

"TK?" Kari asked. Hurt? Upset? Disappointed? Felling used? How could TK explain? 

From the bushes came a silvery laugh from a silver fairy on silver wings. Everything fell into place for Kari, not because it was logical but because she did not want to have been rejected. Of course, TK had heard someone in the bush and had stopped. Simple, just not true. 

Kari jumped to her feet, rage setting in. She charged the bushes but Clothomon flew out before becomeing pixie pulp. Kari chased Clothomon all over but the little winged digimon dogded every grasp, ducked every blow. She wasn't much of a fighter but could she ever fly. 

TK turned to return to camp, figuring Clothomon and Kari could catch up later. Yet, when he turned, his heart sank to the bottom of his heels. He did a full circle, to be sure his bearings hadn't been messed up but no. Nothing was familair, period. 

"Kari? Clothomon?" TK asked, urgently. "Do either one of you know where we are?" 

They stopped their little game of tag and looked around. From the frowns on their faces, TK near they were as puzzled as he. They were lost. 


	5. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 5

Disclaimer: Don't owned them. Don't sue me. Please. I'm alraedy in debt. 

Notes: Sorry it's taken so long, but it has been a busy week and today's my sister's birthday. I've got to hurry, seeing as her party starts in a couple of hours and I still have to decorate her cake and wrap her present. 

Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 

Part 2 - Digi World 

Section 4 - "Hot!" 

Somehow or other Sora used her no nonsence charm to bring the fighting parties to a temporary peace. But by that time, they couldn't continue on their hike. Partly because the sun was setting but mostly because TK, Kari and Clothomon had yet to returned. 

Izzy and Mimi started a fire and began cooking supper, from their own supplies and some that Genni had given them. By the time food was served, Tai and Matt's anger had left them, only to be replaced with concern for their younger siblings. They were even willing to work together to find them. It took Sora and Joe hours to persuade them otherwise. It was dark and far too dangerous. 

"Besides, they aren't little kids anymore." Joe reminded them, "And Clothomon is with them." Tai and Matt laughed at the last remark but they were comforted ever so slightly. At least they were with someone who knew the area. 

After supper, things went amazing well. Maybe it was the full stomachs or the chance to rest or simply being reminded that there had been some good times, years and years ago. They were sitting around the fire and Tai and Matt were, miricles of miricles, speaking to each other. Someone joked they should sing campfire songs and they managed a few rounds of 'Fire's Burning'. Of course the whole strange human ritual had to be explained to the digimon but nobody seemed to mind. 

Izzy took out Casey's blanket to discover it wasn't really a blanket at all. Maybe it had, once upon a time, but had since been turned into a poncho, covered with patches and crests, beads and buttons. Izzy really didn't care. It was Casey's. He pulled the blanket over his head and drew in a long, deep breath of Casey. 

"What's with the blanket, Izzy?" Mimi yawned. Sleep was beginning to claim her, along with the others. 

"It's my girlfriend's." 

That woke everyone up. "You have a girlfriend?" 

Izzy's eyes became narrow slits with resentment. What did these people think he was? "Yes, I do. Do you have a problem with that?" 

"No, of course not." Tai said quickly, relizing he had really offended Izzy and feeling truly sorry about it. "Not at all." 

"What's she like?" There was honest curiosity in that question and the resentment left Izzy's eyes. 

"What does she look like?" 

"Where is she from?" 

"What kind of books does she like?" 

"Is she cute?" 

"Joe?!" 

"I was only asking." 

Izzy laughed. It was good to be with his friends again. "She'd perfect. Her name's Casey. She speaks three languages and I'm trying to teach her a fourth. We work on the same project in Toronto, Canada. She was born in a small town in Northern Canada. She likes to read and her favorites are horror. She's smart. And funny. And loves to talk. And she's beautiful." 

"Oh." There were sevral raised eyebrows. It seemed girlfriends were always beautiful to their boyfriends. 

Izzy took out a photo from his wallet to prove his point. 

"Hot!" Joe and Matt pronounced together as they looked at the young woman, in shorts and a tank top, leaning against a railing by a water fall, her mouth frozen in a gorgeous smile. Izzy snatched the photo away. 

"You going to get married?" Mimi asked. 

Izzy rubbed his thumb over Casey's face, as if he was touching her for real. A sad smile crossed his lips. "We're waiting." 

"Waiting? For what?" 

Izyy carefully tucked the picture away. "Until we're older. Until we're ready. Until it feels right. I'm not sure." 

"Oh." Mimi said, a little disappointed and an eerie silence followed until Dumbomon looked around and asked, "Where are Tai and Sora?" 

Section 5 - Stumbling into a Hole 

They were lost but not for the first time for either Kari or TK. In their expeditions of the Digi World, long ago, they'd been lost before. Sevral times and there was nothing new there. 

"Tai?! Sora?! Anyone?!" Kari's voice rang loud and clear throughout the shawdows of the forest. She was a couple of meters ahead of TK and he could barely see her in the deeping gloom but he wasn't worried about losing her. His digivice was giving a steady beep, indicating Kari was just ahead of him. 

TK hung back not just because he didn't want to get smack in the face with branches, though that was another very good reason, but also to talk to Clothomon. He'd been thinking and puzzling over it and finally decided to confront the digimon. "You laughed on purpose, didn't you?" 

Clothomon gave a sheepish look, even though TK couldn't see it. "You looked, what's the word, resistant. And I didn't want Kari to get hurt. I only wanted to help. I'm sorry." 

"You're a crafty digimon." TK said as he took Clothomon's tiny hand between his thumb and forefinger. "Thank-you." 

That sentimate was followed only seconds later by an "Oof!" when TK ran into Kari, who had stopped short. 

"I don't like this." She pratically moaned, very un-Kari like. 

"There's nothing to be afraid of." TK lied. There was plenty to be afraid of. "We've been lost before." 

"Not that." Kari shrugged off her back pack and pulled out a flash light. She flipped it on and began to scan the foliage with the narrow beam. "Look. What do you see?" 

TK eyes followed the light as it past across the forest floor and up towards the sky. "Puddles of water. Ferns. Trees. Leaves. Stars. What am I suppose to be looking at?" 

"It's what you're not looking. No garbage. No clear cuts. No oil. No smog. It's like the Digi World was before, when we were little." 

"So?" 

"So, why would this one area be untouched when the rest of the world looks like it's gone through a dirty blender." 

"Oh." 

Behind TK's ear came the hiss of air being sucked in between teeth, like you do when you've remembered an important meeting that starts in a hour or when you realize you've just made a BIG mistake. 

TK and Kari turned toward their digi companion. "Clothomon." 

Clothomon gave a weak smile. "I-I'm sorry." 

"Spit it out." 

"Some say the forest is haunted. Everyone does actually. No one ever comes here." 

"Why?" 

"Once, here in this forest, a digimon was about to digivolve but then he simply disappeared." 

Kari and TK rolled their eyes. Wonderful. 

But it wasn't over yet. They began walking again. Kari still had the flash light, it was too dark to turn it off, but she wasn't scanning the ground. Instead, she passed the light over the flora. She'd never admit it but she believed in ghosts. It was that belief that took Kari's eyes off the ground. 

TK was looking at Kari one moment and she was gone, totally and absolutely. TK didn't even have time to react before the ground crumpled under his feet too. 

"This is just great." Kari sighed as she viewed the hole she and TK had fallen into. 

Actually, it wasn't just an old hole. It looked like they'd fallen through the roof of an underground cavern. The hole had formed at the direct center of the dome and was crumbling around the edges. There was no way they were going out the way they had come in. At least Kari and Tk weren't. 

"Clothomon, you have to go find the others." 

Clothomon looked embarressed. Kari was beginning to think Clothomon's face had been permanently frozen in that position. 

"What?" 

"I'm scared of the dark." 

Kari and TK rolled their eyes half-heartedly. Why weren't they suprised? 

So, there was really nothing anyone could do but settle down to sleep and wait for morning. Hopefully their friends would find them or Clothomon would be able to fly out and find the others. 

Either way, they were exhausted and were asleep within minutes, unaware of two pairs of eyes staring out from the darkest cornors of the chamber. 

Section 6 - Silent Words 

"Do they sleep?" 

"Like Piyomon, Folxmon." Dumbomon stepped next to his companion. 

"Good. But keep your voice down." Folxmon gave a quick glance over to where the digi destined slept. "You might wake them." 

Folxmon and Dumbomon had offered to take the first watch that night and the humans had been all to glad to let them. Maybe if they'd been on their toes they would have realized that something was amiss. 

Folxmon montioned to Dumbomon to come closer. "It was luck that the boy ran off." She said in a hushed whispered, "Even more luck that the girl followed him. We can't waste this opportunity." 

"But, isn't it bad? I mean, now it will take longer to get to the mountain. And what about Clothomon? Isn't that part of the forest suppose to be haunted?" 

"No, this good luck. Now they will search for their lost friends, which will take time. And they'll fight amounge themselves and maybe get lost. Either way, it isn't important. What is important is that we delay these pesky humans long enough to bring down the barrier. Then we can worry about destroying the generater to the second one." 

"And Clothomon?" 

"Clothomon can perish with the rest. She is more of a pest than the humans. Always Genni's little helper. Such a disgraceful little digimon." 

"Oh." Dumbomon mummbled. He kind of liked little Clothomon, even if she could be annoying. 

Folxmon went on talking. "The missing TK and Kari will make problems in the morning but we should stir up some mischief anyway. Did you see how they were acting last night? Like they were best of friends." 

"And the two in the bushes, Tai and Sora, they were very close. What were they doing?" 

"The human way of reproducing. Disgucting, isn't it?" Folxmon grumbled as she walked back to the camp fire. "Why couldn't they just write a program, like normal beings." 

To Be Containued... 

I've read it over and I've decided this is the lamest section yet. Oh, well. As long as people read it, I'll keep writing. Hopefully part three will be better. 


	6. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 6

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Don't know who does. Don't care. 

Notes: I'm going to give up on the sections. They were fine for the first part but it's too confusing now. 

Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 

Part 3 - Seperated 

There are times when you wake up and just just know the day is going to be Hell. Joe hadn't even openned his eyes yet and Tai and Matt were at it again. This time it was about Matt's gun, which had gone missing. Naturally, Matt accused Tai of taking it and, naturally, Tai denied it. They argued until breakfast, when it was discovered that some hungry digimon had gotten into their packs during the night. The fire had gone out and they couldn't get it started again because all their matchs and lighters had been misplaced. Having stale power bars and cold water to eat didn't lessen, and probally deepened, their gloom. 

They couldn't leave right away because Mimi wanted to sort through her bag to make sure she had everything. Minutes later she was yelling at Izzy because her missing razor had showed up in his bag. It was then that Sora and Joe found the note left behind by Dumbomon and Folxmon, saying they'd gone off to look for Kari, TK and Clothomon. (It was almost as if they had done so to make things more worse than they already were.) Well, this set Matt and Tai off again and it ended with Tai stomping off in one direction and Matt going off in the other. 

What was left of the group, Mimi, Izzy, Joe and Sora, decided, through much shouting, that it would be best to continue on. Billions of lives depended on their success and they couldn't wait for two hotheads to cool down and come to their senses. They figures TK, Kari and Clothomon would have enough smarts to head for the mountain and could only hope Folxmon and Dumbomon would do the same. They split up into pairs when they came to a fork in the path and parted company. 

Meanwhile, Kari and Clothomon were still asleep. TK had only been woken minutes before by a nature call. He'd walked over to a far cornor to relieve himself and that's when he saw the first inscription. It was dark, even with the morning sunlight pouring through the whole in the roof, so it was understandable that they hadn't seen the writing in the blackness of night. 

TK zipped up his fly and began to circle around the cavern, tracing his fingers over the carvings in the stone. These words, or pictures, or letters, covered pretty much every surface. 

*Even the floor.* TK noted, glancing down. 

They looked like the digi language but it had bee so long since Izzy had tried to teach him, TK didn't think he'd be able to read any of it. However, there was one symbol, very near the ground. It was a square with rounded cornors, a smaller, upside down triangle in the upper left and a dot to the left of the tip of the triangle. 

"Patamon." TK whispered, his finger tracing the grooves. "Oh, Patamon." 

"I'm here." said a small but familiar voice. 

TK looked down and, lo and behold, there was Patamon. 

"I'm here. I'll always be here." Patamon reassured but his mouth did not move. He didn't even sound like Patamon. In fact, he sounded like Angemon. Before TK's eyes, Patamon's features melted into a blob of clay, which grew into Angemon. Angemon took TK's hand and pulled him to his feet. (TK hadn't realized he'd been sitting down.) 

*Wasn't he bigger before?* TK thought to himself. *Or was I smaller?* 

Angemon lead TK over to a section of wall without any writing. 

*Why didn't I see this before?* TK wondered, *It sticks out like a sore thumb.* 

The whole area of bare rock was big enough to step through, if it hadn't been solid. It was encircled with more symbols and gems of all different colours. 

"Look at her eyes." Angemon said before pressing TK's palms on to the smooth surface. It burned his skin, like hot coals. TK tried to pull his hands off but Angemon's strength was sevral times that of a teenage boy's. 

"Please, let go." pleaded TK and Angemon's hands faded away. He yanked himself away from the wall and gawked at his hands. They were covered in blood. 

"Your blood." Patamon said. 

TK's head snapped down. He was standing over Kari's sleeping form and Patamon was floating over her, catching in his mouth the blood dripping off TK's hands. 

"Don't do that." TK protested. "You'll get sick, too." 

"I'm already sick." Patamon said, again, without moving his mouth. "We are one. I got sick the day you got sick. And you will make her sick too, if someone doesn't tell her." 

"I'll tell her, if we ever get out of this alive. I promise." 

Patamon faded away just as Angemon's hands had but the blood did not stop. It produced one more drop that fell on Kari's forehead and sank down into her skull. The next thing TK knew, he was kneeling next to her, holding her head, brushing her hair out of her face. Her eyes flashed open, the iris' emerald green which quickly snapped into a violent red, blasted into an angry purple, that cooled to a ocean blue and melted once again to green. Over and over the pattern repeated itself, faster and faster, until you could no longer distinguish the individual colours. 

Kari was speaking but TK didn't see if her mouth moved or not. He was only looking at her eyes. 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

"TK. TK? TK?! TK!!! Wake-up!!!" A hot flame burst on TK's cheek and his eye lids jerked upward. He was leaning against the chamber wall, his hand still touching the pictograph of Patamon. 

"Sorry, but" Kari began to apologize but stopped in mid-word when TK jumped up and ran over to the only part of the wall where their weren't any carvings, the same one Angemon had shown him. 

"TK, what are you doing?" 

TK was brushing away years, and layers, of dirt and grim off the gems. He uncovered four empty indentations, over the blank section of stone. *Now what?* 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

TK cursed himself for having forgotten. 

"TK? TK, look at me!" 

*Look at her.* TK mused, *Look at her eyes.* 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

That's what Angemon said. 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

What did he mean? 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

Whose eyes? 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

Kari's? 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

IN the dream!!* 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

TK yanked four gems 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

out of the wall and put them, in order, 

(Green-Red-Purple-Blue) 

in the empty spaces. The rock turned to sand and as strong wind simply blew it away, leaving a passageway. 

"What's going on?" Clothomon asked, finally waking up. 

"I think TK just found one of the secret entrances Genni was talking about." 

"I think you're right." Clothomon agreed as she read the inscriptions around the door. 

"Ladies first." TK said wit ha comical grin and a clumsy bow but his insides were doing flip flops. If one part of the dream was right, could it mean the other part had been true too? 

"Are you and Tai back together?" The question came out rather suddenly and Mimi immediately wished she'd used a bit more tact. 

"Actually, no." The question had caught Sora off guard but she recovered quickly. 

"Not from what I heard." 

Sora turned on Mimi. "Who told you?!" 

"No one had to tell me. You two were pretty loud last night. Louder than I remember. But, then again, you were a lot smaller-" 

"Mimi!" 

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I keep forgetting how hard it must be for you." 

"It doesn't hurt so much now." Sora said and they began walking again. "But let's talk about somthing else. Like why you didn't tell the others you were getting married? I'd have thought you'd like the idea about being the first digi destined to get married." 

"I like the idea. I love Jake. But I keep getting this weird feeling like that's not all of it. Ever since I came back here I can't help thinking there's more to this life. I keep remebering something my dad use to say, 'Everyone is put on this earth for a reason.' Look at everyone. Joe's a paramedic, who, I just know, is going to become a great doctor. Izzy moved to Canada, has a girlfriend, who I think he really, really, loves. Tai's studying to become an artist and you're a great soccer player, going to college. But me, well, I'm a woman with nothing more than a grade twelve education, about to get married and commit my life to house cleaning and child care. Is that enough reason to have been born?" 

Sora was stunned. She had never in her life heard such deep thinking from Mimi. 

"Well, when you put it that way..." Sora's voice trailed off. "Do you hear that?" 

Mimi stopped and cocked her head. "I don't hear... Oh, wait. Yes." 

"What is it?" 

"I don't know." Mimi's voice was shaking, "But let's just get out of here." They broke out in a quick jog but couldn't out run the sound that was beginning to suspicously sound like the beating of many bug wings. Sora risked a glance back to see not one bee or two, not even two dozen but thousands upon thousands, all coming in their direction. 

Matt was running. He'd started running not long after leaving the others. I guess you could say it ran in the family, that burnig need to run away. That hope that maybe if you could get your legs to move fast enough you could just leave all your problems behind. However, even though sometimes you think you're running away, you're running right back into the fire. Matt relized this when he saw the Gabumon sitting in the path. 

The Gabumon looked very much like his old friend and Matt didn't want to deal with that. Not now. Not ever. Matt slowed, backed up a few paces, did a 180 degree turn and came face to jaws with a Gurumon. A yelp escaped Matt's mouth and he stumbled backwards, on to his butt. Matt, scared out of his mind, could only utter a few fragmented sentences. "Nice Gurumon. Good Gurumon. Please don't eat me, Gurumon." 

Matt shuffled away on the seat of his pants as the Gurumon leaned closer. "Don't insult my intelligence, Matt." 

"How'd you know my name?" Matt gathered enough courage to ask and get to his feet. 

Gurumon's brow lowered. "I'm your best friend." 

Matt shock his head. "That Gabumon... Gurumon or whatever is dead. Genni said so." 

"Genni was wrong." Gurumon sat down on his haunches. "This may take sometime to explain. You see, after you and the digi destined returned home, us digimon kept on digivolving. And digivolving. And digivolving. We kept discovering new forms until we digivolved ourselves out of existence. It's hard to explain. We became new digimon and the regular digimon couldn't see us anymore. Everyone thought we had died. But we hadn't, just moved into a different realm. Like what happens to the human soul when the corporeal body dies. We lived like that for a long time until we figured out ways to return to this world. It took a lot of hard work but we did it. However, it's difficult. We can only stay for short periods of time." 

"So, you never died." Matt's fear had left him, leaving only relief, and a little suprise. In all his time of knowing him, Matt hadn't heard Gurumon say so many words at once. 

"None of us. We've been watching over you since you and the others returned. And speaking of which, there is something you should know about the digimon you've been travelling with." 

Izzy and Joe were walking along in silence and nothing out of the ordinary had happened, yet. 

The voices started so slowly and quietly 

(They've really grown up.) 

that they could be dismissed as the wind. But the steadily grew clearer, 

(Yes, I wonder if they've changed in other ways.) 

until they were too loud to ignore 

(Well, Joe probably still faints at the sight of blood.) 

and you couldn't resist answering. 

"I'm a paramedic. Of course I can stand blood. And burns. And bashed in brains." 

"I don't doute you." 

(What is a paramedic?) 

"A paramedic is a paramedical worker who specilizes in ambulances and is trained in first aid emergency care." 

"I know that, Izzy. I'm a paramedic." 

"I wasn't talking to you." 

"Who were you talking to then?" 

(Us!) 

"You be quiet!" 

"Who are *you* talking to Joe?" 

"Nobody." 

"I'm not talking to anybody either." 

"Then we're just talking to each other." 

"And if we're hearing irregular sounds in the back of our heads it is merely a symptom of the stress of having to return to the Digi World." 

"Exactly." Joe agreed. 

(Only problem is, you're wrong!) 

Joe and Izzy spun around. "Shut up!!" They yelled at the empty space on the path. For once, the voices didn't reply. At least, not right away. 

(Run.) 

(You have to go now.) 

(Run!!!) 

Izzy and Joe exchanged a look. "Run? Why?" They soon got their answer but not from their invisible companions. 

A decaying hand exploded out of the ground, like in an old zombie movie, and grasped Izzy's ankle. It was like the ground had turned to quick sand and Izzy was sinking by the second. 

(Szolomon is one nasty digimon. His pheromons change normal hard earth into sand and water. He waits for his prey to walk over his lair and then pulls it under. Pull! Pull him out!) 

The last voice had a very familiar tone to it but both Izzy and Joe were too busy to think much of it. 

Joe hooked his arms under Izzy's arm pits and pulled. Even though Joe was physically fit, he moved people on stretchers around all day for, he could not free Izzy. An unseen force took hold of Izzy's hair and the other one grasped the back of his shirt. Together they pulled Izzy up and out, with only one tiny, little problem. Szolomon was coming up too. 

Izzy tried with all his might to shake off the digimon but for a zombie, Szolomon was strong. As he raised out of his slimy, sandy home, his putrid smell rose too. Death and decay, rotting and revolting, moldy and mucky. But it was his face that made you want to scream or faint or blow chunks or all three. There was no skin on the back of his head, it had been torn away by ravage fangs, and the skull was bashed away, revealing bare brains, where worms had tunnelled their homes. What must have once been hair stuck out in a few, black, wire strands. His mouth was full of black corn kernals, once upon teeth, barely holding on to the bloody and yellow diseased, scurvy ridden gums. The skin on his nose had disintegrated away leaving black cartilage. But his eyes were, by far, the worst. Empty sockets surrounded by ganggrene flesh. It was a terrible emptiness that couldn't possible see by all scientific explanation, but somehow managed to. 

Szolomon freed another hand, with which he grabbed Izzy's other ankle and they began to sink down again. 

(That's it. I've had it.) The slightly familiar voice yelled and the force at Izzy's head let go. Joe could have sworn he heard the buzz of wings pass his ear. 

(Super Shocker!!) Out of thin air came a ball of static electricty that quickly turned current. It hurled throught the air at light speeds and hit Szolomon square on. With an agonizing shriek, Zsolomon let go of Izzy and he and Joe went flying backward into a tree. 

But the zombie wasn't distracted for long. Mad at losing his prey, red swirls began to circle in his hollow eyes. 

"Zombie Sand!!" Two beams of twisting, twirling red sand shot out from where Szolomon's eyes should have been and missed Izzy by inches. Instead it hit a flower that turned to sand and crumbled away. 

(Bad Szolomon!) the second voice piped up. (Marching Fishes!!) 

Fish, of all different colours, jumped out of the quick sand and began to butt and bit Szolomon in an attempt to pull him under but Joe and Izzy didn't stick around long enough ot find out if they achieve this goal. 

"Oh, boy." TK moaned as he looked up the wall they had come to. Clothomon had just come back down and reported that the wall didn't go up all the way to the roof. There were a couple of feet TK and Kari could wiggle through. 

"The we'll climb." Kari pronounced as she bagan to pull out rope and other climbing supplies from her pack. That's what they'd turned to camp into, by the way, a mountain climbing summer school. Like I've said before, Kari was the daredevil in her family. One of her greatest dreams was to scale K2. TK, on there other hand, had to confess his terrible fear of hights. 

"I'll help you." Kair assured, "Just don't look down." 

*Famous last words.* TK thought then turned his attention to Kari. It wouldn't do to miss some important instruction and fall to his death. 

It was slow going but only because TK was inexperienced and, against Kari's advice, kept looking down. If Kari had been able to go it alone, she'd have found the route extremely easy. All the required hand and foot holds were just where they should have been, as if the wall had been designed to be climbed. 

*And maybe it had.* Kari thought to herself. *Genni did say there would be lethal obstacles. Well, the wall was definitely an obstacle and if we fall, that would most likely be lethal.* 

They did make it to the top, without any major mishap (But only because I couldn't think up any good ones.) and crawled on their stomachs. Clothomon had been right. There was room but not even enough to sit up in. It was pitch black too but Kari had wisely stuck the flashlight in her back pocket. She took it out now and turned it on. And as far as either Kari or TK could see, they were going to be on wiggling on their stomachs for awhile. 

Tai wasn't running. But he was walking quickly and not looking where he was going, so maybe that's just as bad. He didn't see the root, he tripped and ended up with a face full of dirt. A hand, with pebbly skin and claws, took one of Tai's and helped him up. Tai got to his knees and looked into the familiar, orange, reptilian face. "Agumon?" 

"You know me!" 

"Well, sort of. I had a friend who was an Agumon." 

Agumon frowned. "No, Tai. What I mean is, you remember me." And he showed the scar on his hand he'd gotten when Phantomon took as swip at him. 

Tai jumped to his feet and backed away. "No way. You're dead and dead things are suppose to stay dead." 

"I'm not dead. I never was. Who said I was dead?" 

"Genni." 

"Oh, Genni." Agumon rolled his eyes. "Joe was right. Genni has gone senile." "How did you know?" 

"How? That's easy." Agumon tapped the side of his head with one claw. "He's not playing with a full deck of cards. Lights on but nobody is home. The wheel's turning but the hamsters dead. A couple bricks short of a -" 

"No! How did you know what Joe and I were talking about?" 

"We've been watching over you. Who did you think rescued you from ol' Vipermon." 

"You mean that was you. I didn't imagine it?" 

"Duh." 

"Then you know what's been going on." 

"More like what's going down. No one is getting along. Especially you and Matt." 

"He hasn't changed a bit." 

Agumon looked thoughtful. "Actually, he's changed quite a bit." 

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Oh." 

"I remember in the last few months you were in the Digi World, the hounds of Hell couldn't separate you two. You were best buddies. You fought more with Sora than you did with Matt." 

"I guess you're right." Tai said, remembering. "But that doesn't change now." 

"And now doesn't change then." Agumon shot back, "You're still the leader. You haven't been voted out of office, yet. You still have that commitment you made in Myotismon's castle. You have the crest of courage and you will have it all your life, if not on your body then in your heart and soul and mind. And becasue of all this, your have a responsiblity to save this world and your world and your friends and YOURSELF!!!" 

Tai turned his head away. He didn't want the leadership or the crest or the responsibity. He knew now that he never had. He didn't want to go back and apologize because that would be admitting he was wrong. He hated making mistakes. He hated being wrong. Most of all, he hating having to to this just because fate and some proficiy said so. But he had too because he was Taichi Kamiya, leader of the digi destined and the fate of the worlds depended on it. He hated fate. 

"Agumon," Tai turned only to find the digmon had slipped away and there was no trace left of him. 

Slowly, Tai got to his feet and went back the way he'd came. 

They were keeping ahead of the bees but barely. They were getting tired. Already Sora had been stung in sevral places on her back and legs. It was only the thought of what would happened if they caught up that kept them going. That many bees could hurt Sora, probably seriously, but for Mimi it was certain death. 

Mimi tugged Sora's shirt and pointed ahead, too out of breath to talk. Sora nodded in return. She saw it. The path broaden. The trees were thinning. There was the mountain and, surrounding it, a lake. 

They ran across the sand, slipping off their packs (They'd surely drown with them one.) along the way and plunged into the cold water, the bees only a few feet behind. They kicked off their shoes in the water and swam as far away as possible, as fast as possible but used up precious oxygen in the process. 

Sora surfaced first, expecting to be swarmed with bees and was suprised to find they had... vanished. Withdrawn. Disbanded. Dissipated. Kuput. Gone bye-bye. Sora had thought they would have been less discouraged by the water. 

She dived back under quickly and pulled Mimi up, before she black-out. They got across and, dog tired, crawled up on the rocky shore. There they lay, half in, half out of the water, for a full ten minutes, trying to regain their lost breath. 

When Mimi finally looked up, she was delighted and shocked to find their packs no more than a dozen feet away. 

Kari licked her chapped and cracked lips and cursed herself for losing her chapstick. "I thought underground caverns were suppose to be dark, dank and damp." 

"Maybe in our world." TK replied, "But I'd have to describe this place as dark, dry and cold. Brrr." 

If Casey had been with them, she'd have told them it was just like winter in her native northern Canada, only without the snow and biting tundra wind. 

They'd past the 'wiggling on your tummy' stage some time ago and had just made it through 'crawling on your hands and knees'. They could now stand erect, if they didn't mind running into a stalactite every now and then. 

Suddenly, Kari tilted her head. "Do you hear that? It sounds like-" and she took off at a run. TK wasn't far behind. Yes, it was water! A river! A torrent! But Kari quickly came to realize this was a curse disguised as a blessing. Yes, there was water but it ran across their only path and off the cliff on their right. 

With a tiny moan, TK backed up against the wall to his left. He hadn't realized there was even a drop off, let alone one so high. 

Kari cursed, looking over the situation one more time, before fainting dead away from a mixture of stress, exhaustion and dehydration. 

Matt slid off Gurumon's back. He'd been kind enough to give Matt a lift back to camp, though he pointedly refused to answer anymore questions Matt threw his way. 

"Thanks man." Matt said and patted his old friend, only to realize that Gurumon had already taken off. 

*That guy is weird.* Matt decided and pulled back a branch to walk into the clearing. 

Tai was already there, reading the note Folxmon and Dumbomon had left and the one Joe, at the last minute, thought to write down. 

"They're headed for the mountain." Tai stated. 

"We'd better go after them. Folxmon and Dumbomon aren't on our side." 

Tai noded. He'd already found their matches, lighters and food in a badly concealed hole, patted over with Dumbomon's footprints. 

They gathered their stuff. They weren't speaking to each other more than the bare minimum but at least they weren't fighting. 

*I'm sevral thousand feet up, in the dark, with a fairy digimon who's scared out of her wits and Kari, who's fainted and dropped the flashlight, which probably ever so nicely rolled of the cliff. This isn't too bad. Oh, great. Now even my thoughts are dripping in sarcasm.* 

TK got to his knees and crawled past Kari, toward the water. Clothomon was crying out, flying blindly, but TK paid no attention. *One thing at a time.* He reminded himself. *She, at least, has wings and it doesn't matter if she falls off this cliff.* 

TK took off his shirt and dipped it into the cool water, being careful not to lose it to the current. He crawled back to Kari and placed the wet cloth on her forehead. 

Now, for the flashlight. If he was lucky, which TK douted, the flashlight would still be on the cliff. TK, of course, had his own flahlight but it was back in his pack with food and water and his pills. His pills! The thought struck him as funny and he laughed. Here he was, closer to death than usual, and he was worried about something that, in the short run, didn't matter. 

TK's foot hit something and it began to roll of the edge of the cliff. The flashlight!! TK made a desprate grab. The good news was he caught the flshlight. The bad news was he'd ended up with half his body dangling over the edge and slipping fast. 

"Kari!" 

"Kari!" another, feline, voice put in. "Wake up." 

TK felt claws dig into his wrists and warm blood trickle down his arm. 

"Kari, wake up." 

The claws loosened and TK thought he'd fall to his death, but another invisible, or maybe just hidden in the darkness, replaced the hold. "Just hang on." a voice, from TK's dream and memories, instructed. 

"Kari, wake up!" There was the sound of skin being sliced and a yelp of pain. "Quick, Kari! Help TK! He's losing his grip!" 

Kari groped blindly along the cliff, with directions from the voice. 

"To your right. A little further... A little- There! Now pull him up!!" 

She yanked TK up by the back of his shirt and the two of them leaned against the cold, rock wall, trying to find their lost breath. TK fumbled to turn on the flashlight, thank Heavens the on button had only been pushed off, and shone the light on Kari to see claw scratches on her cheek, dripping blood. 

"Kari." 

"Oh, TK." And she kissed him. 

This time Tk didn't break it off but he took great care not to touch his bloody wrists with her bloody cheek. 

Mimi did not complain once and Sora was impressed by the new world record. Maybe growing up hadn't been so bad after all. In the good old days, Mimi would complain constantly walking on level ground, in proper shoes, through a nice forest, warm, dry, with a full stomach and a wet throat. Now they were climbing a mountain in their stocking feet. It was cold and their clothes were sopping. They had finished what was left of their food and only had a half a canteen of water to share. They were tired out from all the running, swimming and climbing. They were scared, sure the swarm of bees would be back anytime, and they were dirty, the mountain dust clinging to their wet bodies like sawdust to glue. But no complaining. In fact, the closest Mimi cam to complaining was asking for a five minute break, which Sora eagerly agreed to. 

Sora plopped downed against a boulder and looked out across the Digi World. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, giving the clouds tints of blue, orange, purple and pink. 

*Could the day be over already? It seems this morning was only a few minutes ago.* Sora thought as another something crossed her mind. *It was only what? Three days ago that I was living a perfectly normal life. Seems like an eternity.* 

"Hey, Mimi-" Sora started to say but stopped when Mimi was nowhere to be seen. 

Sora jumped to her feet, her tired bones forgotten. 

"Mimi!" 

She circled the whole area but Mimi wasn't anywhere and she wasn't answering. Sora instantly feared to worst. 

*Maybe the bees got her. Maybe she fell off the cliff.* 

Sora headed up the path, even though she was fairly sure Mimi wouldn't have gone ahead without telling her, and retraced the way back, slowly, looking for any clues regarding Mimi's disappearance. She came back to where Mimi had been sitting and noticed some strange indentations in the ground. It looked like digi writing. 

It was something they'd done to pass the time in the evening, along with talk and tell stories. Everyone had learned varying degrees of the Digital form of writing. Izzy was fluent inside a couple of months and, now that Sora thought back, Mimi wasn't that bad herself. She'd been just as good as Izzy. Maybe even better. 

Sora looked closely. Mimi would have certainly known what this meant. It wasn't a big inscription, no more than two words. Probably only one word and that word looked to be PUSH. 

Sora pushed down on the ground and it openned up under her. Before she could do anything, she was falling into a deep, dark tunnel. 

Okay, Kari was awake. TK hadn't fallen to his death. Clothomon wasn't in a panic. They'd been visited by a couple of old friends. The flashlight was working. TK and Kari had kissed. But they still had to get across the water. That, as it turned out, would be the easiest part so far. 

As they looked over the area once more, they caught a glance at a guitar and a sheet of music against the wall. 

"It couldn't be that easy, could it?" 

"Only if you can play because I am totally tone deaf." 

"I play." TK said as he picked up the guitar. "Just keep the light on the paper." 

The tune that came off the guitar wasn't what you'd call a melody. It could be better described as a five dollar hooker. It wasn't pretty but it got the job done. (I think I got this nasty little joke off tv.) 

Half a bridge began to form on each side of the river and they joined in the middle. Kari and TK raced across, as if they were afraid it would suddenly crumble. It didn't and they got across, only to have to face yet another problem. 

"Matt, what happened?" Maybe it was the silence that Tai wanted to break or simply the need to cool a burning question. 

Matt seemed to know exactly what Tai was asking about but couldn't provide an answer. 

"I mean," Tai went on. "We were best friends. After Izzy and Joe and Mimi drifted away. Even after Sora and I broke up. We were still friends." 

Matt just shrugged his shoulders. He really wasn't into the is talking thing. The #1 reason why most relationships never worked for him. 

"I want that friendship back!" Tai grabbed Matt's right wrist and the Crest of Friendship, hidden under Matt's shirt, went into hyper mode, flashing wildly. And with each flash came a different memory. 

FLASH. 

There was snow everywhere. It looked so empty. So barren. Any companionship, even a person you really didn't like, was welcome. Tai and Matt held hands, relieved at not being one human all alone. 

FLASH. 

Tai trusted Matt, though he'd never admit it outloud, with Kari. And Matt felt that scorching shame at having let Tai down, though he'd never admit it in public either.) 

FLASH. 

Angemon and Angewoman are about to shot their arrows of hope and light. 

"Scared Tai?" 

"No, not at all. How 'bout you Matt?" 

"Course not. Peice a cake. Bur maybe I'll just hang on to you to make sure you don't chicken out or anything." 

"Ya, right. I'll do the same for you, buddy." 

FLASH. 

Matt grasped Tai's hand back. "Okay, we're friends again." Then he winced. "But could you let go before you cut off the cirucalation." 

Tai let go and Matt stepped forward, only to be yanked back. "Tai!" 

"Friends don't let friends fall into dark, deep holes." 

Every moving part in Izzy's body hurt and Joe didn't look much better. 

"I-I think... we.. lost him." Izzy slowed to a stop and went to lean against a tree, only to find air. 

*Hiding tree.* Izzy managed to think before falling through, into the concealed hole. 

He fell but not for long before smashing into a solid wall. He'd barely regained his senses when something slammed into him from behind. 

"Ow!" 

"Sorry." Apologized Joe's voice. "Are you hurt?" 

"Aside from my broken back, no." 

"If you can be sarcastic, you'll be fine." Joe switched on his flashlight. 

"Is that your professional opnion?" 

"Yes. Now, what happened." 

"We hit a wall. That's what happened." 

"What are we going to do?" 

"Why are you asking me?" 

"You're the genius, aren't you? Besides, you've always had answer in the past." 

Izzy scratched his finger into the wall. It crumbled away easily. "The dirt is loose. My guess is that a millenium of dirt and dust cam through the hiding tree, fell in the hole and ended up here. We can dig through. It couldn't be more than a hundred feet or so." 

"A hundred feet?!" 

"I'm joking. 2 feet. 5 feet, maybe. 10 feet, possibly. 20 feet-" 

"Izzy." 

"Just dig." 

They had come to a dead end. They had read the inscription. And Clothomon had confessed one final truth. She didn't know how to use her power. She didn't know the name of her power. She didn't even know if she had a power. 

Above the final door, they knew it was the final door because it was marked, was one final instruction. There were seven daunting words, OPEN WITH THE POWER OF A DIGIMON. Those words made Clothomn cry outloud. The digimon was here but where was her power? 

"You have to try." 

"But I can't?" 

"We'll help you." Kari took out her digivice and crest. TK followed suit. "Now this is what we're going to do." 

Kari remembered sevral stories the other digidestined had told here over time and two came to mind now. One was about how, at first, the digimon needed the digi destined to digivolve and the other was how Sora and Joe had defeated some ghost digimon, whose name Kari had forgotten, using a mind over matter technique. 

Kari told her plan and they got into position. Kari linked her left hand with TK's right and Clothomon stood on them. In their free hand they had their digivices. Together they began repeating 'Clothomon can do it.' while Clothomon concentrated. 

Their eyes were closed or else they would have seen what happened next. Two digimon sat behind the two humans and add their strength to the mix. At the same time the digivices began to glow. The glowing light tuned into a beam of light, which interwined with each other and the braided light was passed to Clothomon. Surrounded by a violet hue, Clothomon's eyes snapped open and her hands raised up. 

"Thread of Life!!" 

Ten seperate purple threads of light, on for each finger, leaped out and disintegrated the rock standing in their way. 

"Whoa." TK said, after examining Clothomon's handy work. "I don't know but I think this counts as a power." 

There it is. All of part 3. This is probally going to be my last submission for a while. Spring Break, people!!! And I'm going to Vancouver!!! Whoo-hoo!!! See you in a week or so, gove or take a couple of days -- Kim 

P.S. Oh, in case anyone's interested, I've added to the Digi Rules. 


	7. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 7

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Don't know who does. Don't care. 

Notes: Well, I had a great time in Vancouver. It only rained part of the time, so it was okay. 

Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 

Part 4 - Treachery 

"Ow! Get off me TK!" 

"Hey, don't yell at me. You're the one who didn't see the hole." 

"You're the one with the flashlight." 

"Where is the flashlight, anyways?" 

"You dropped it?!" 

"No, I'm just asking you because I want to make sure it's the flashlight in my hand, not some slimy worm. Of course, I dropped it!" 

"Sarcasm will not help TK." 

Somewhere in the pitch darkness, there was a THUNK! followed by a "That is the last time I follow instructions." 

"Mimi?!" 

"Huh? Who's there? One minute." A bright light jumped out of the blackness, into Kari and TK's eyes. They leaped back, a mass of arms and legs. 

A beam of light shone on the tangled up teens. "TK? Kari? Are you all right?" 

Neither had time to answer because there was a call of "Look out below!" from the tunnel Mimi had just slid out of. She jumped away just in time to avoid getting impaled by Sora's fishing rod, sticking out of her pack. 

"Kari? TK? Is that you? Do you know where the others are? Where's Clothomon?" Sora rang out the questions like they were sale prices but no one had time to answer these either. 

The wall off to the side was crumbling inward and, very dirty and very tired, Izzy and Joe crawled out. Izzy, who still had a measure of sarcasm in him, said. "Well, fancy meeting all you here." 

By this point, TK and Kari had managed to untangled themselves and find their flashlight, only to discover, after all the abuse it had taken, it had finally broken. 

They scanned around with the two remaining flashlights. They were altogether again, omit Tai, Matt, and the digimon in yet another mysterious cavern. And they could see why no digimon that had ever come down her, ever came back out. The chute they had come down were nearly vertical. They only person getting out was the one with wings, which nobody had. 

"Where's Clothomon?" Mimi asked. 

Kari explained Clothomon's fear of the dark and how she was pretty sure she thought both TK and Kari were dead. She'd probably gone back to look for the others, not knowing most of them were down here. Trapped. Well, not completely. 

On one wall were inscriptions and they knew right away it was a puzzle. There was no doubt in their minds that they had stumbled accidentally upon the place they had been heading all along, the entrance to the chamber that held the barrier device. 

"I hate riddles." Izzy muttered and he truly did. Casey loved them and she loved to quiz her boyfriend and even took a secret delight when his logical mind could not make heads or tails of the twisted metaphors. Mimi translated the riddle on the wall for the benefit of Joe, Sora, Kari and TK, who were struggling over the vaguely familiar symbols. "My life is always in or out. I'm hidden least that I'm found out. I'm hard to hold onto forever. I don't want to be given away ever. To find me out, you need only seek, My whole is hidden so very deep." 

Sora had a smug smile on her face, which she was trying to hid behind her hand. 

"You know the answer, don't you." Izzy accused. 

Sora nodded, still trying to hide the smile, and walked up to the wall. She picked the microphone that was hanging by a wire. She cupped her hand around the mike and whispered the answer. 

The wall did not turn to sand and blow away, nor did it turn like a garbage bin lid. Instead, starting every slowly from the top, it became transparent. You could see straight through to the other side. But the picture was distorted because the wall also seemed to be moving, like JELL-O. 

Kari moved forward and, before any one could stop her, pushed her hand in the wall. It went through and when she pulled it out, it was no worse for wear. It wasn't sticky or cold or wet. It was obvious what they needed to do next, but nobody was too eager to proceed. Silently, they linked arms, for support or in case they somehow got lost (You never knew with the Digi World), took a deep breath and walked into the gelatin. 

They were in another cavern but they really didn't have time to think much more than that they had made it in one piece before they were fired upon. 

It was just dumb luck that nobody was hit, at least at first. The digidestined were standing on a reflective surface so that when a laser was fired, it simply bounced off the floor and back, to destroy the gun. TK always did have sharp eyes. Maybe that's why he saw the gun first and where, or more specifically who, it was aimed at. Or maybe it was just another case of dumb luck. 

"Kari!!!!" Even before he screamed, TK was running, knowing full well Kari would not be able to get out of the way in time by herself. The gun fired. TK hit Kari at a running tackle. They landed on the floor and skidded across the polished surface. Kari was unhurt but TK's cry of warning had turned into one of agony. 

You'd expect lasers to burn, only these didn't. They cut, like a knife or a sword. It had gotten TK in his right thigh and there was blood everywhere. It soaked through his jeans, the dark stain spreading by the second. 

Izzy and Joe pulled TK off Kari and Sora pulled Kari to her feet. TK was off on something about gloves. Kari wiggled her way out of Sora's grasp and headed for TK, only feet away. 

Sharply and suddenly things fell into place for Sora. Okay, not all of it but enough to trigger her warning bell. She was all reflex and instinct. She grabbed Kari around the waist and planted her feet into the ground. Kari couldn't move unless Sora did and Sora wasn't moving. Kari struggled. Sora held tight. Kari screamed. Sora blocked it out. She didn't know why yet, except in the hidden deeps of her mind, but Sora was convinced that letting go of Kari would mean death. 

*Why won't Sora let me go? Can't she see TK needs help? Let me go! Let me go!!! I need to help him!!* 

-You won't be helping him.- 

The words, if you could call them words because they were really more like images, just popped into Kari's head. 

And then she stepped out of the shadows. 

She was just as Kari remember her. She walked on all fours, proud. Her front paws covered in yellow gloves. Her fur was pure, clean white, except for the red scar hidden under on of the gloves. Her eyes were as blue as ever. 

Obviously, no one else saw Gatomon, or at least acknowledged her, as she simply walked through Joe and TK, as if they weren't there at all. She stopped at Kari's feet and looked up with her sad, cold, hard stare. Kari had supposed, had guessed, that maybe that the digimon weren't gone. Somebody, or somebodies, had saved TK's life. But even with her old friend right in front of her, it was hard to believe. 

*Maybe they are dead.* Kari thought, *Maybe I'm seeing ghosts. She did walked through Joe and TK, after all.* 

Kari tried to speak but her vocal cords had snapped. Gatomon seemed to understand and spoke instead. "You can't help him. You can only hurt yourself." Gatomon smiled on of those smiles that you give to reassure someone when you're getting bad news. Like getting told your house burnt down. Or when someone died. Or when someone has a terminal illness. "Kari, TK has AIDS." 

Kari went limp and Sora feared she'd fainted from shock. But no, she was crying. Quiet sobs, but not quite enough to go undetected, escaped her lips. Sora hugged Kari and tried to comfort her, saying TK would be all right, not knowing she was lying. 

Joe could hear Kari crying but it was the farthest thing from his mind. Now his immediate concern was TK. He was shaking and his skin was cool and clammy. He was going into shock and there was no doubt in Joe's mind that he'd die if he didn't get into a hospital, ASAP. He reached for TK's digivice and TK's bloody hand grabbed Joe's, safely protected by latex. 

"No." 

"TK, you're going into shock. We need to get you to a hospital. You could die." 

"We all die." 

"I meant soon." 

"So did I. What a mean is, I'm the only one who can put in my crest. You heard what Genni said." 

Joe gave a look of disapproval but he backed his hand away. No matter how much he didn't like it, and how what Matt wouldn't like it, Joe knew TK was right. 

Joe torn off TK's shirt and tied them around the wound, using it as an extra bandage on top of the ones Joe had already brought and used. "Mimi, help me lift TK. Izzy, where is this device?" 

Izzy was already venturing deeper into the room. "It's not far." He called back. "I can see it." 

"Okay, here's the deal. We get your tag and crest into the device and them you're going home. No ifs, ands or buts." To Mimi, Joe said. "We lift on three. One. Two. Three. Lift!" They lifted. Mimi gave a grunt but didn't let go of TK's legs. 

"It looks safe." Izzy was already half way across. "Only us and a few statues. Nasty looking but harmless." 

Ya, right. 

As you might of guessed, they weren't harmless statues. Izzy must of tripped something as he walked towards the device, which was only a flat platform about two feet high in the shape of a stop sign. At first, you didn't notice the stone eyes blink or the jade fingers bend. But when a coal black one, with green dragon wings swooped down at Izzy, it was hard to miss. If he hadn't have bent down to examine a tiling on the floor, Izzy would have been dinner. His curiosity, which had gotten him into trouble so many time before, actually saved his life. 

"Run!!!" Joe commanded. Now that they were here, they had to get to the device. They had to get their tags and crests in before going home and hope Matt and Tai managed to find their ways here too. 

"I'm running!" Mimi yelled back, just as she tripped over the same tiles Izzy had been inspecting moments before. TK, barely conscious now, could only give a low moan as his injured side slammed into the floor. 

"TK!" Kari cried out, trying to turn back to TK. Sora pulled her forward. All around them tiny particles of sand with blowing up from the floor. It was a mini indoor sand storm. 

Izzy fell to his knees and slid the last few feet to the device, gently knocking his knees against the platform. He brushed away the sand in vain as he tried to study the device. Had Genni told them that they had to do something to start in up? If so, what was it? Izzy could feel the panic bubbling in his stomach, mixing with the acid. He looked for his friends but the swarm of blandness hid them. Even the howl of the wind drowned out most sound. 

*And if I can't see them, they can't see me.* Izzy reasoned. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled from the bottom of his diaphragm. "OVER HERE!!!" 

Mimi head the Izzy's yell, just before the wind rose and drowned it out. The sand was everywhere. In her hair. In the folds of her clothes. In her mouth and nose and eyes. She'd taken off her shirt and covered her face but it still got through. 

"Oh,........." Joe swore and he stopped his attempt to keep TK's wound clean. Mimi turned and saw another one of the statues that came to life, walking calmly through the storm, towards them. This one had the body of a tiger or panther and it's eyes were ruby red. Maybe they were rubies. Those eyes were very hypnotic. They seemed to say "You can't win. You can't run. Just give up." Joe reached for TK's digivice and this time TK was too out of it to argue. He fully intended to send them all home. Their was no way to get to the device now. TK's digivice pounded in Joe's hand. It reminded Mimi of when the digimon use to digivolve and when... Mimi took out her digivice and sure enough, it was acting up too. She'd just hadn't heard it over the noise. Joe watched Mimi carefully as she lifted up her digivice and pointed it towards the creature. 

"Bad kitty." Mimi said as the light that helped repealed Leomon so long ago, chased away this new evil. 

Joe gave TK back his digivice. "Let's get out of here." 

Mimi nodded but before she did she yelled out to, she hoped, Izzy. "Leomon!!!!" 

"Who's Leomon?" Kari asked. 

It Sora a moment to process what Kari was asking and another to remember Kari hadn't been there at the beginning. "A friend, from a long time ago. Why?" 

"I think maybe Mimi just screamed that. Could it be a code?" 

Sora thought back years to Leomon. It had been a long time. "Maybe, but I don't see the connection. Maybe Izzy'll know." Sora took a deep breath and passed the message along the line. "Leomon!!!!" 

"Olay! Olay!" Izzy called out, shaking Casey's blanket beside him. The creature went for it. That crazy dragon looked scary but he wasn't too bright. This was the fourth time he'd gone for the moving blanket, instead of the still human. From behind him, someone screamed, "Leomon!!!!" 

*Leomon?* Izzy thought as the dragon wings took another pass, ripping the end of the blanket, the closest he'd gotten yet. *What did Leomon have to do with any of this?* Izzy tried to think back to Leomon. He'd been their friend. Well, not all the time. He was their friends when he didn't have a black gear stuck in his back. Then, all you had to do was us your handy, dandy digivice and chase the gears out or, at least, stop Leomon from killing you. Hey, was that it. Could you make these creatures go away with your digivice? Izzy dropped the blanket, he couldn't hold it and his digivice, and dragon breath noticed him again. Izzy pulled out the digivice and it worked. With a high, pitched whine, the creature flew back into the sand. 

But that wasn't the end of them. There was one more, who kind have looked like the abominable snowman. He'd turned Kari's pack into an ice cube, when she'd thrown it at him. She and Sora were backing away very quietly and quickly, towards where they hoped Izzy and the device was. "Scissor Swipe!!" 

"Pelt Shot!!" 

'Frosty' gave a howl of anger and ran off towards his attackers, forgetting the humans. They dashed to the device, just as Mimi and Joe arrived with TK. The wind died down and the sand melted back into the tiles that covered the floor. The tiger and the dragon had returned to their stone form but all that remained of 'Frosty' was a puddle of water at Folxmon and Dumbomon's feet. 

The two digimon, immensely proud with themselves, walked towards the others. The digidestined hadn't realized how much they had missed those 'defected' digimon. This feeling lasted a brief two seconds before Folxmon pulled out Matt's gun and pointed it at them. 

"Step away from the device." Step away from the device the digimon commanded. 

"Folxmon, why are you doing this?" 

"Step away and I'll tell you." The digidestined moved away. "I'm doing this for the same reason I told Szolomon where Joe and Izzy were or tricked the bees into thinking Mimi and Sora were their enemy. I can't have you putting up another barrier, just when the old one is almost gone. Now, you can stay and I'll kill you or you can go back to your world and live." 

"Don't do it!" 

Folxmon spun around to face Tai and Matt who had just crossed through the doorway. "Shot them if they move." Folxmon said to Dumbomon and gestured to the digidestined and Dumbomon raises his trunk. "I'll deal with these two." 

Folxmon took careful aim and the two men. "Go back or I'll kill you." 

"Go ahead. Shot. For whatever good it'll do you." 

Folxmon's finger pressed down on the trigger. There was a click but no bang. Folxmon shock the gun. Matt's sly smile turned into a wide grin and his clutched hand opened up to reveal several bullets laying on his palm. 

"But I doubt it'll do much good without these." 

Matt tossed the bullets back into the door and they kind of jiggled around in the gelatin. Then they attacked. They ran straight for Folxmon. Folxmon dropped the gun and readied her claws. 

"Thread of Life!!" Clothomon flew up from behind Tai and attacked. Folxmon, caught completely off guard, stumbled backward. Matt and Tai rushed past her. 

"Attack Clothomon!!" Folxmon was in a rage. Dumbomon took his eyes off the digidestined and began shooting wildly at the fairy digimon. 

Clothomon dodged easily. "Thread of Life!!" 

Folxmon jumped nimbly away. "Give it up Clothomon! The others will be here soon. Scissor Swipe!!" 

"She's right." Kari whispered to her brother as he hugged her close. "I can hear them." 

"We'd better go." Sora said. "Clothomon can hold off these two but no more." 

Matt was already guiding TK's hand toward a slot on one side of the octagon, where the tag would fit. 

"It looks like it works." Izzy observed, as that one side of the octagon glowed to life. 

"I hope so." Matt put his tag and crest in. 

Mimi gasped and pointed towards the gelatin entrance. An army of digimon, most none of them had ever seen, were forcing their way through. 

"Matt, you get TK out of here NOW!!" Tai yelled but Matt was already half way through punching the code into TK's digivice. 

"Get him to a hospital as soon as possible." Joe told Matt before he disappeared. "And keep lots of bandages on the wound." 

"Kari, you're next. Put in your crest." 

"No, Tai!" 

"What do you mean no." 

"Not until you do." 

Tai saw the evil digimon coming. There was no time for them all to get out, no time to argue. Tai slammed his crest and tag into the third pocket, just seconds before the cavalry arrived. 

Greymon. Gurumon. Birdramon. Angemon. Angewomon. Togemon. Ikkakumon. Kabuterimon. How long had it been? They attacked the oncoming digimon with ten times their strength. It was amazing to see a champion take down a mega but Tai had to remind himself that these champions were really digimon who had digivolved way beyond Mega. 

"Okay, Kari. Fair's fair. Get moving." 

"No. 

"What?" Tai didn't see Joe sneaking up behind him and by the time he felt the needle, it was too. Tai tottered and fell back, into Sora's arms. 

"You'll wake up with a head ache but other than that you'll be fine." 

"Traitors." Tai accused but inside he was smiling. They knew him too well. 

"Now, I'll go." Kari said. Punching the code into her digivice and Tai's. "See you on the other side!" She called out before leaving. 

"You go next, Izzy." Sora said. 

"You sure?" 

"Positive. What's-her-face Casey is waiting, isn't she?" 

Izzy nodded and left without an argument. Suddenly, the same thought crossed both of the women's minds at the same time and from the looks on each others faces, Mimi knew Sora knew and Sora knew Mimi knew. "Joe, you go!". They yelled together. 

"Huh? I don't know. Tai won't be too happy with that." 

"Screw Tai!" 

"Just go Joe!" 

"Okay. Okay. I'm going." And he was. He'd seen death and destruction and he'd lived through it all but he didn't think he'd live through an encounter with both Mimi and Sora mad at him. 

Mimi and Sora were the only ones left. They stared at each other. Neither moved. The good digimon were holding off the evil and even advancing on them but that was not the problem now. It had come down to the question who would stay and who would leave. Neither wanted to be the unlucky one to stay. Neither wanted to be the guilty one to leave. 

"One of us has to go." 

"We could both stay." 

"No, that's like paying twice for the same sweater you can get half price for." 

"There isn't anyway we can make it both through, is there?" 

Mimi shook her head. "Once the barrier goes up, there will be no way for the digivices to work. I'm pretty sure on that." 

"So, one of has to stay." 

."Yes." 

"It should be me." 

Mimi raised an eyebrow. It shouldn't be either of them. "Why?" 

"You know." 

"Oh, Sora you can't keep blaming yourself for that." 

"Why not?" 

"Because it's his fault just as much as it is yours!" 

"He'd have stayed. If we hadn't have drugged him!" 

"He'd have stayed because he's the stupid, fearless, dumb-ass leader, not because he'd be punishing himself." 

"I still have to stay." 

"No, you don't." 

Mimi and Sora turned. They'd been so involved with their argument, hadn't seen Birdramon come over. The huge digimon began to melt and shirk into the form of Biyomon. "Mimi's right. You can't keep punishing yourself. It's not your fault." "Fourteen year olds are not suppose to get pregnant!!" 

"But it does happen. It happened to you, just like it's happened to so others. And some, like you, did the right thing. They put those children up for adoption." 

"That doesn't matter. It shouldn't have happened in the first place." 

"You're right. It shouldn't have. But it did. And you can't ruin the rest of your life because of it." Biyomon took a deep breath, "Besides, you have to go back to tell Tai Nikki's all right." 

"Nikki?" 

"Your daughter. And his daughter. She's a happy little girl. She loves to paint and sing. Her favorite colour is yellow and she hates lima beans. You might not have meant to bring her into this world, but nobody, least of her, has suffered for it." 

Sora broke down. Mimi wrapped her hand around her friends shoulder. "Go Sora, please." 

Sora whipped away her tears. "What about you? I can't have you ruin your life either." 

Mimi smiled. "Don't worry. Remember what I said, about every life having a purpose. Well, I think I just found mine." 

"But Jake! Your wedding! Your life!" 

"Don't mean half as much as this. Jake will find someone else. Dresses can be returned. I think this is my life, here in the Digi World." They hugged. "But, I wouldn't mind it if you tried to explain to him and my parents." 

"I'll try." 

"And tell the others, I'll miss them and I hope TK get's well soon." 

"I promise." 

Mimi let go of Sora and stepped back. The fight was still going on in the background but it sounded distant and far away. Sora took off her crest and tag and slid it into one of the two remaining slots. "Bye Palamon. Bye Mimi. Bye Biyo." "We'll met again. I don't know where and i don't know when but we will met again." Mimi called out, tears streaming down her cheeks, just as Sora pressed in the code on her digivice and, in a flash of light, she was gone. Mimi stood, alone in the crowded room of warring digimon, the only human left in the Digi World. 

Now it was Mimi's turn. She had the final tag and crest needed. She stepped towards the device and kneeled down in front of that last slot, where the crest of sincerity would go. Mimi pulled it out from under her shirt and looked at it, seeing it for the first time. It wasn't much to look at. Old, scuffed and yet in was the key to everything. The key to this device. The key to digivolving. The key to herself. She'd discovered, when she'd turned the lock, that she had always been sincere. She was honest, even if the truth hurt and she was frank with herself now. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to spend the rest on her existence in the Digi World. She didn't like the Digi World at the best of times, let alone when it looked like a World War was going to break out. She cared for Jake and her parents and felt horrible at leaving them, without a trace, forever. And she knew could back out, keep the crest and tag and leave. But for what? To have her world run over. No, that would never do. She had to do this. 

Palamon was beside her now, Biyomon having returned to the fight, and that's all Mimi needed, for the strength to do what she had to do. Palamon didn't say anything while pressed Mimi tag and crest into the empty slot, but she didn't have to. 

There was a soft click as the tag and crest slid into its spot on the octagon and Mimi knew she had burnt all her bridges behind her. The machine whirled to life and the designated colours of the crests began to pulse. The flat top of the device came alive as well, swirling and mixing the colors. it colours became darker in some spots and lighter in others, forming lines and shadows and highlights. Mimi could see things in the colour that became shapes, that became objects, that became faces. There were faces she knew, her parents, her friends, the digimon, Jake and there were others that she did not know, except maybe in her dreams and, if she survived, her future. 

Of course, this takes quite a while to explain but hardly seconds to happen. For a millionth of a second, all the faces changed from happy, sad, upset, frustrated, relaxed or confused to pure horror. Mimi stumbled back, shielding her eyes, just as a dark brightness exploded from the octagon, enveloping Mimi and everyone else in the room. Ending Notes: Well, congratulations to anyone who guessed TK had AIDS and an additional applause from those you who thought Sora might have been pregnant. I was hoping someone would pick up on all those clues. 


	8. Digi Destiny Will Always Be There 8

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em/ Don't know who does. Don't care. 

Digi Destiny Will Always Be There - Epilogue 

What Happened After It All Ended 

Normally Casey would tease Izzy whenever he was about to step on to a plane to Japan. They still lived in Canada, only had moved to Vancouver on the west coast. The moment Izzy returned from the Digi World, he proposed to Casey, which she accepted. They quite their jobs at the project less than an hour later. On the day that they married, Izzy became a Canadian citizen. 

Sometimes Casey would joke that they should have moved to Japan, since they visited so often. But there were no jokes today. The digidestined only got together for special occasions (weddings, reunions or a new baby) but this would be their first death. 

"I wish I was going with you." Casey said. 

"I wish so, too." Izzy replied. This would be so much more easier with Casey beside him but, even though they weren't poor, they didn't have money to burn. And, with two young children, it was nearly impossible to travel together anymore. 

"Give them all my condolences." Casey reminded her husband, giving him a supporting hug. "Especially Matt." 

They had all known the day would come. TK had been sick for years but, knowing he'd die soon, had made the best of what was left of his short life. He'd finished high school but never went into college or university. Instead he plunged straight into writing. He became the author of several short stories and a series for young adults, titled DIGI WORLD!!!, a story about eight kids who... well, you know the plot. Everyone considered the book pure science fiction, except the ones who it had happened to. By the time TK got to the final book, he was so sick he could barely finish. And a couple of months after 'Digi Destiny Will Always Be There' hit the shelves, AIDS claimed another victim. 

Joe was there to greet Izzy at he airport and drive him to the hospitable Joe's career was going pretty much as expected. He did go to medical school but, much to his father's disapproval, he got a job in an ER instead of one in a private clinic. Now, Joe's father would have more reason to disapprove. Joe had been asked to join an expedition to the rain forest of South America. He'd accepted and would be leaving in less than a week. 

Matt, Sora and Tai were already in the waiting room when Izzy and Joe arrived. It was a small, quite room, with plain carpeting and leather easy chairs. Their were a couple of vending and pop machines off to one side. This wasn't a general waiting room, just one set up for the family and friends of someone about to die. 

Life had been good for Matt, all things considered. He'd gone to night school, where he had gotten a business degree. He'd bought the shop, where he'd been working, and the above apartment, which he had been renting. By the time TK sold his first book, Matt's business was booming and he had long since traded the crowded apartment for a modest and nice house. Now he was going back to school, yet again, and he was almost finished this latest round of classes and homework. This time it was directed a social work. Matt hoped to work with troubled teens, who were living on the streets, so that what happened to TK wouldn't happen to anyone else. 

Sora and Tai had gotten married, just not to each other. Sora had gotten married not long after Izzy and Casey. Sora's husband wasn't here now but her baby daughter was suckling at her breast. She still searched for Nikki, she'd be in her late teens now, but with no avail. 

Tai had been married three times and divorced twice, with a strong possibility of another not far behind. He was a successful architect but his true passion still survived in painting. His latest canvas work had been of the digidestined and the digimon how he remembered them in his dreams. They were perfect, in the way only children can be. They weren't too fat or too thin and they certainly didn't lie withering away in hospital beds with IV's in their arms and tubes up their noses. Just happy, smiling children. Remembering made Tai's heart ache but he could not control his hand from moving the brush across the easel. 

Kari arrived last and was lucky to have arrived at all. She was part of Japan's earthquake rescue team and had been out of the country when she received a call that her best friend was dying. 

They sat around in silence, eating the pizza they had ordered, waiting. TK was in a coma and the doctors didn't think he'd make it through the night. There was sadness in their hearts but also a sense of closer. It would be over soon and the people know as the digidestined would no longer exist. No one, not even Genni, would dream of calling only seven digidestined to save the World. Even when Mimi hadn't returned, there hadn't been this kind of closer. After all, she was still alive, presumably, in the Digi World and that was where they usually ended up fighting. It was past midnight when a doctor, in a white jacket, came into the waiting room. Matt stood and the others followed suit. They could, from his face tell the news wasn't good. He was gone. They were already accepting that, even before the doctor began to speak. "I'm sorry. TK's just passed away." 

It was light. He loved the light but what he loved more than that was that the light didn't hurt his eyes. In fact, he didn't hurt at all. He was breathing through clear air passages and not a hint of a cough. His joints didn't ache and when he flexed his fingers, he felt muscle. His lips were moist and there was no hint of dryness on his skin. He was in eternal bliss. He sat up, no pain, and saw the woman beside him for the first time. She was beautiful. 

"Are you an angel?" 

She laughed, her voice was filled with gold, and for a brief instant he saw her as he had last seen her. Dirty, wet, cold, exhausted and a bit ragged. 

"Mimi?" 

Finally, she spoke. "Congratulations, TK. You've digivolved." 

THE END 

Notes: Well, it's over. I'm not to sure what I'm doing next. Probably a few short stories. I'm open to suggestions. 


End file.
